The Dance of Life and Death
by sixfootbeetle
Summary: Right, am compleatly redoing the summary. This is my version of where the Minotaur came from, do u think Minos would want his wife to give birth 2 a weird man bull thing that probably kicks and eats people? this stry is a bit weird an first chp is apparen
1. Chapter 1

Chapter1

AN. this is the first story I have ever written for Fanfic at least I don't have to write a disclaimer as it is based on a Greek myth. Well, hope you don't find it too boring.

_Prologue:_

_If you were a fly on the wall, so to speak, at the right time and place you would be amazed by the things you could see. Flies see everything. At first the Gods were worried by this as flies were therefore able to see many things they should not but a flies IQ is not much higher than the dirt and muck they feed on and so are not able to interfere, question or change anything and have no means of telling other people about the things they see or hear and so the Gods could not be bothered to do anything about them yet. _

_One such fly is flying over the surface of a large lake, its blue-green waters are rippling slightly in the warm, gentle breeze and the fly is skimming over the surface looking for things to eat and trying to avoid being eaten by the fat, lazy fish that are swimming beneath the surface. In the middle of the lake there are two beings reclining on a sofa that is almost impossible to see and is floating just above the water. Although the fly does not know it, it is looking at Poseidon, God of the sea and Selene Goddess of the moon. Poseidon looks like he was made from a blue-green material and then painted over with the correct colours but the blue-green still seems to show. Selene looks like she was made from silver and grey materials, her skin has a silver hue, her hair is silver-grey, her dress is silver-white with deeper grey shadows, her eyes are grey and her lips look like they were once red but now have a silver sheen._

"_Shall we play one more game before we have to attend the Council? I think it is Ares again, probably done something stupid, offended someone and coursed a fight." Poseidon said_

"_Well he would, wouldn't he." Said Selene irritably. "Yes, let's play a game before we have to attend that infernal meet. What shall we play? Unstable Empire again, or maybe something new?"_

"_Something new I think," Said Poseidon thoughtfully, "how about New Planet, or maybe Tyrant?"_

"_I've played New Planet quite recently. Let's play Tyrant; we haven't played that for a while. Which side will you be?" _

"_I think I fancy the Tyrant." Poseidon answered, "What Map shall we have this time, Earth maybe?" _

"_Yes Earth sounds good." Answered Selene. Poseidon spread out his fingers and swept them over the sea surface in front of them. _

_The fly flits closer. A large area in front of the two Gods is now glassy smooth. It shows a map. This map is of a world. The Gods now bend over it taking. When they touch the water, ripples spread from their fingers to the edge of the map shattering the image. When the map reassembles it is a close up of the point they touched. The fly looks on uncomprehendingly as armies march. _

_Leave the fly now and look down across the sea. There is a very large land mass that is wide at the top but as it stretches south towards the pole it tapers off. A way off the coast by the big end there is a small group of tiny little islands huddling together. On one of these islands there lives a small tribe of olive skinned natives. The island is called, at least by the natives, Hytagaris (pronounce: hu-wee-tagh-aah-ris). The natives do have primitive canoes but these flimsy crafts could not survive in open water and so the natives have never been further than the other islands and so they know nothing of the rest of the world around them and the islands very existence is unknown to the rest of the world, the natives have their own little haven. _

_Sadly not for much longer. From the land called Crete three explorers were sent by the king there to explore for lands unconquered and new. These three ships travel across what is know known as the Mediterranean Sea. They have been raiding villages along the coast of Africa and looting them for goods, food and even people. When their ships are full they take their goods back to Crete to the king. The ships pass over villages already looted by them unless they need food or supplies. The ships are now nearing what is now called the Straights of Gibraltar and they are heading for a bad storm. _

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the inhabited island, Ruatonim (pronounce: Ruw-at-tone-im) threw a log on the flames which was licking hungrily around the wood in the fire place, a tricky manoeuvre for someone with a broken leg. It had been smashed by a Raeraccs (pronounce: Rah-eir-aks) or water lion when he stumbled on a mother nursing her cubs when he was hunting. Raeraccs have gills as well as lungs and teeth like a sabre-toothed-tiger. Ruatonims Bond, the natives on Hytagaris did not marry they became Bonded, was called Kataalac (pronounce: Cah-tal-ah) but his pet name for her was Arinadna meaning Spear Maiden and she called him Minotaur as that was his name when said backwards and in their language it meant bull. Kataalac came over to him and helped him with the wood he was struggling with. She was only around twenty, about the same age as him, and she was heavy with child. Their first son, Icaieris (pronounce: Ih-kai-rh-is) was one year and asleep on her hip, she laid him down in their cradle by the fire, it was made with soft animal skin hung in a wooden frame. His red hair was the same as his mothers and, though his eyes were shut in sleep, Ruatonim knew they were deep brown the same as his.

"It's a beautiful evening," said Kataalac, "like the night we were bonded, do you remember?"

"Yes." Said Ruatonim. He gazed out at the skies through the open window. It was deep velvet blue, though through the other open window you could see the sun in its last death throws – Phinixac (pronounce: Fee-nih-iks-ah-c)– was their name for the sun, the same as the red-gold bird that in death burst into flames but still rose the next day from the ashes. It was sometimes seen in the woods. He remembered. He remembered their bonding night, after a whole day with two of their hands tied together – his left and her right. He remembered brushing her long red hair for her, her sea green eyes sparkling through a copper mist as she ran her long fingers through his dark blue-black hair. Everything she did was made from grace itself, even when large with child, and their first night together as bonds, he would never forget it.

She smiled at him, also remembering. She placed her hand on her stomach, "Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?" She asked him.

"It doesn't matter to me, so long as it's ours. We already have one beautiful son. Little Ick does look a bit tiered right now though!" He chuckled.

"When do you think I'll be able to hunt again? It's awful being cooped up like this, can't run, can't jump about, can't hunt, can't drink, can't do anything!" She looked wistfully at the snarling Naishk (pronounce: Nay-ish-ck) head nailed to the wall. Naishk were distantly related to the Raeraccs but were pure black, not red-brown-yellowish, sometimes with a few white slashes across their muzzles and were much rarer. She had brought it down with a Kaeer, a short hand held spear, when she was swimming in the bay, quite a way from the village.

Ruatonim grinned, "I think most of the young men are glad of it, it seriously damages their egos to be beaten by women in 'masculine' activities such as hunting and archery. They get big headed ideas about men being better than women just because women have to take a few months of if they want to have children. Even I did!"

"Yes, but you learnt your lesson fast!" she said.

"Well it was more like, learn the lesson or have it pounded into you and branded on your forehead for a month!"

"Hey!" She jumped at him and knocked him over. They wrestled playfully with each other for a moment, Ruatonim knew she should not jump around so much but then she would probably go mad if she could not even attack him to tell him off.

As the fiery Phinixac finally sank below the horizon in a last burst of flame on the warm summer night, Kataalac rose and covered the fire. The two of them went to sleep on the furs in the corner of the darkened hut.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kataalac awoke very early, she always did. She dressed and went from the living part of the hut to the working part. Clambering over the pots and tools littering the floor in ordered chaos she stepped out side into the chill morning air. It was cool and fresh, but not really cold, and the sun had yet to rise but there was grey morning light filtering from over the horizon and it was enough to see by. Kataalac wended her way among the tall trees and undergrowth, following a half hidden animal track, almost impossible to make out unless you knew it was there. It was dark under the canopy and she followed the track along way, never getting lost, she had been this way many times before although the track looked disused. Eventually it came out onto a shear cliff, the trees marching right up to the edge and leaning over staring down at the crashing waves below, it was almost as though the edge of the forest had just dropped away beneath the waves, maybe it had.

Racshyahrmalrl (pronounce: Rash-yah-mal-le), she called it, which meant Landsfall/death, it was her own private place. There was a long cliff, it stretched all the way around to the bay but hear there was a high Knoll. It was the highest point of the entire island and at the very top, leaning out over empty space was an old, gnarled tree. Its thick branches were twisted and one long one curved out over the edge. Kataalac walked up the steep slope to the tree. It was a relatively easy climb and she had done this every morning since she was 14 and knew it like the back of her hand. She climbed out onto the branch and soon was sitting out on the branch with her legs dangling over the void.

She sat in silence staring out over the waves. The sky was beginning to lighten to a pale blue, soon it became golden then the crimson Phinixac came over the horizon, reborn again for a new day in a wash of amber and peach while its twin image shimmered on the waves below.

She watched the rebirth of the Phinixac in silence. She sighed, another dawn, another day. She was miserable, she wasn't even aloud to go swimming.

_Two children will be quite enough for me._ She thought. _This is the second distressingly long pregnancy I have endured and two children will be quite enough for me. I can't wait till I can hunt again, I love to hunt. _

Suddenly she stopped her musing. _Oh holy Kra what is that!_ She clambered down the branch as quickly as she could, slipping and grazing her hands and feet on the rough bark, she threw out her hand for the next branch as her feet were slipping. She missed. For a perilous moment she was falling, then she found the branch but now she was hanging over the terrifying drop above jagged rocks and deep waters. The thin branch she was clutching was digging into her skin. She pulled up against it and swung out violently with her other hand desperately trying to grasp a sturdier branch. She missed and as she fell back down and her weight pulled downwards on the branch there was aloud creaking and then a sickening splintering sound, it snapped. She was falling. A loud cry ripped through her lips. She was falling, falling, falling, the world was whistling around her and the crash of the hungry waves below was drawing closer. Suddenly as she was twisting and writhing through the air there was a terrible pain all down her right side, she had struck rock. Hands torn and slick with blood she grasped at the jagged protrusion, hanging on for dear life.

AN. Bit of a Cliffy here, literally, well hope you've enjoyed the first chapter of the very first story I've written for Fanfic, hope it wasn't too boring, I only typed 2155 words.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter2

Kataalac opened her eyes, she was hanging about a meter below the cliff rim. Only a meter. It had felt like she had fallen for an age. She gritted her teeth, just a meter, only a meter, she could make it, she had to make it. Tentatively she started to release the rock with her left hand, her tiered fingers protesting. She felt around above her head for a hand hold her right hand screaming in the effort to support her. Wedging her fingers into a small cranny she relived the strain on her right hand and swung it up, scrabbling for another hand hold before her left hand gave out. She grabbed a small protrusion and relaxed, panting. Her entire body was a mass of aches. Slowly she began to edge her way up the cliff face. If was hard and excruciatingly painful. After what seemed hours she reached up with her right hand and felt grass. With a last final burst of effort she hauled her aching body over the edge. She fell sideways onto the ground in a dead faint.

Ruatonim was worried. He knew Kataalac went up on the cliff top every morning but she had been up there for ages, the sun was well clear of the horizon and climbing rapidly.

_She should not be over taxing herself in her state, but it was just a walk she could not harm herself just by taking a walk, could she? Should I go and look for her? She needs her own private time to herself I can't just barge in on her. But what if she's in trouble, what if she's hurt?_

Suddenly Ruatonim turned, left the hut and set off into the forest. He had to see if she was alright.

Ruatonim hurried through the trees, following the old animal track. He was the only one she had told about it. The trees seemed to be whispering to him _hurryhurryhurryhurry…_He turned past the last ones and stepped out into the sunlight.

**_Oh holy Kra!_** He had arrived just in time to see Kataalac haul herself over the edge of the cliff and faint. Her high boned face was dirty, scratched, bleeding and lined in pain. Her shirt and trousers was ripped and torn exposing numerous cuts and bruises. He copper hair had fallen over her face. He ran over to her, what to do? He moved her as gently as possible so she was lying flat on her back. He then ran back the way he had come. He needed help. She may have broken something, he dare not carry her back by himself he would only make any breakage she might have worse, he might even paralyse her if she had suffered spine damage. He raced back down the track.

Lelta Amonsovn (pronounce: Lel-tah Ah-mon-soon) was the Lelta or chief of the small tribe. She simply made the major decisions but there were not very many of those. A few months ago there had been a terrible storm and she had to organise help for people with collapsed homes and the like, also she had to find temporary housing for those who's houses had collapsed completely, but things like that did not happen very often so, to earn her keep she made different breads, flans, cakes and such like. She got most of her ingredients from a farmer called Kieltavn (pronounce: Kee-el-taan) in return for some of the things she made. Everyone in the settlement did something and traded it for the things they needed although if you needed an entire new canoe you had to arrange with the maker what they wanted and go out and get the things with the things you made which could get very confusing. She liked Kieltavn very much and he had insisted she call him Kiel the other day, well who knows, but she still was not sure she wanted a proper 'relationship' yet.

Amonsovn woke at dawn, as did most people, dressed and tied back her brown-gold hair with a strip of animal hide to stop it getting in the way while she worked. She was just starting a second dough mix, after shaping and leaving the others to rise on the sunny widow ledge, when there was a loud pounding on the door. She hurried over to open it

"Alright, alright I heard you the first time" She opened the door and saw Ruatonim, fist raised to pound again on the poor door that had by now taken a severe battering, his hair with its curious blue tinge was flying everywhere all over his face and he was still a bit out of breath and had a panicked look on his face.

"Lelta!" he gasped, "Kataalac is on the cliff," he babbled, "she fell off it but I think she managed to climb back up or something but she passed out and she's bleeding and I think she may have broken her ribs or some thing or she might have lost the baby or something, I don't know but I need help getting her back down here so someone can see her." Ruatonim gushed.

"Kataalac fell off a cliff?" Amonsovn asked incredulously

"Yes, and I think she may have broken her ribs or some thing or she might have lost the baby or something, I don't know but…"

"OK, calm down, I'll organise a stretcher to be sent to her and bring her back to healer Omiphaiga home." Amonsovn interrupted him before he could garble away to a finish. She pulled her apron off over her head and hung it up behind the door, she wiped the flour of her hands and steamed off with Ruatonim in tow. She had soon collected four other men ("You can't carry a stretch with a broken leg, Ruatonim!") and a plump middle aged woman with a strong scent of herbs who was healer Omiphaiga, who was lugging a large box of just about everything, though they do not have kitchen sinks so she did not have one of those. Ruatonim then guided them through the trees and out onto the cliff top. Kataalac was lying there still, unmoved and unmoving and her breathing was shallow and ragged, it barely moved the tendrils of hair fallen across her parted lips. Omiphaiga hurried over to her and sat down. She felt and moved her about a bit, tutting to herself all the while. The others watched on anxiously in silence.

" Right," Said Omiphaiga, " I want you two," here she pointed at two of the men, " to tip her gently on to her side while you two," she pointed at the other two, " will slide the stretcher under her and then you can gently put her back down onto her back." The first two, under Omphaigas strict supervision, managed to tip her on her left side, as it was slightly less battered, with out any mishaps and then back down again onto the stretcher.

"I want you to be very careful with her as I think she has damaged her spine and paralysis is possible, especially if she is jolted and banged about." Cautioned Omilphaiga sharply as the stretcher was lifted slowly into the air.

Lelta Amonsovn watched as the stretcher set off into the trees. Kataalac was her cousin and many said they had a very similar likeness; both were tall and slim with fine boned features and high cheek bones. Their looks were quite similar, some even said they should have been sisters, Amonsovn's sister was still born and Kataalac's mother had died soon after her birth and had only born one child. Amonsovn sighed and looked out over the cliff, she could see blood smears and tatters of clothing were Kataalac must have struggled back up the rocks. There was a lot of blood, it must have been a real struggle, and it is a wonder she did not pass out from blood loss while she was climbing. Kataalac was never one to give up on things, though, she was a mother even though pregnancy was driving her mad, she would not give up so easily on her son and husband. Icaieris, her son, was proving to be a bit of a handful, just like Kataalac when she was young. Amonsovn smiled, he was really a dear she thought. She looked up at the horizon. Kataalac probably came here just to watch the sun rise. She gasped. She turned and raced off quick after the others.

Slowly and haltingly the stretcher was making its way back down to the village although they were forced to find an alternative rout at one point as the trees were too close together and the stretcher did not fit through. They were part way down when Lelta Amonsovn came rushing past them, she would not tell them what the problem was she just said for them hurry. The Lelta soon was back at her house.

"_What to do, what to do!"_The Lelta ran her fingers abstractly through her hair as she thought, _"Alright calm down, calm down. I need to think straight. Right. I need first of all to inform everybody, I'll start with Kataalac and then tell them what I think happened and then I'll ask for questions or suggestions. Right, OK, let's get that far first. Then I'll think about what to do next."_ Amonsovn took a deep breath and went to a cupboard tucked away in the corner. Inside there were two hand bells, one was very small and stained bright red, she had never had to use that one and hoped she never would need to, the other was the size of her hand and just ordinary metal, they had found iron deposits almost at the surface on another island and it had proved to be quite useful. She took that one out, went out of the hut and rang it, it emitted a long peal of harsh clangs. It was calling everyone to gather in the space before her hut.

Soon people started arriving in drips and drabs, some were wiping dirty hands down their fronts and many were still caring their tools. They all stood before her expectantly.

"Err, right." Amonsovn began hesitantly, "Now this morning Kataalac, who you all know, was found unconscious in a dreadful state at the top of highest part of the Dreegjarirganh cliffs (pronounce: Dree-jar-rig-ganh). She is now being taken back to healer Omiphaiga's home, although beyond that I do not know, but the question is how did she fall? According to Ruatonim she has gone up there every day since she was fourteen and has climbed the tree that leans out over the edge every day. I think I know what happened. She was sitting on a branch and she saw something on the horizon, I have see it too, and in her hast she broke one of the branches and fell but I could see a trail of blood up the side of the cliff and I think she hit the rock face, managed to hold on and then haul herself back up to the top. At the top she must have passed out from blood loss."

From the crowd there was a faint mutter, "Women, always fainting on us." Amonsovn looked and saw Yialdareth, a young man who had always been jealous of Kataalac's hunting skills, muttering to his friend Sciereth.

"Why don't we throw _you_ off the cliff and see how you manage." Amonsovn snapped her patients worn thin. "Kataalac is pregnant and it is amazing that she managed to climb back up at all, why don't we go and see what _you_ look like when _you_ have endured a climb like that and that much blood loss. When she hit the cliff face she severely damaged her spine and yet she still got back up, I don't think there is anyone here who could survive that ordeal and not pass out at the end, in fact most here would not survive at all, and that includes _you _Mr oh so strong and brave man Yialdareth." By the end of her tirade Yialdareth was wishing the ground would swallow him up.

Amonsovn glared at him. "Right, as I was saying, Kataalac passed out from blood loss and Ruatonim was worried about how long she had been up there and went and found her. He came to me and she is being taken back to Omiphaiga's. When I was up there I also saw what I think caused her fall, on the horizon I saw…" she stopped, Ruatonim and the others had just arrived with Kataalac on the stretcher between them.

"It's OK," Omiphaiga called out, "I think she'll be fine. Although there _is_ severe spine damage I don't think there will be any long term damage, just a few scars and she's got plenty of them already!" Amonsovn smiled in relief. The stretcher was born away into Omiphaigas hut.

"Right," Began Amonsovn again, "you will have to tell them about what I said because I am not going to say it all over again, but what I saw on the horizon was…"

AN. Well what is going 2 happen nxt? Thanks 2 greywhich and 1madcat 4 reviewing but I know u 2 so – PLEZ YOU **_MUST_** REVIEW OR YOU WILL FIND BITS OF EXPLODING BEETLE FLYING EVERYWHERE! **_MUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUSTMUST MUSTARD!_**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter3

AN. First of all I'm going 2 go completely mad cos I have now got 3 reviews, 1madcat and greywhich don't count as I know them so I'm saying thanku 2 Archer Yi, I finally got A REVIEW!YEY! thankuthankuthankuthankuthankuthankuthankuthankuthankuthankuthanku! – also in this nxt bit there is a Crete guy i have called Jason and a boat i have called the Maria, plez don't get confused he is not Jason from Jason and the Golden Fleece cos i just needed an authentic name and do not have time 2 look 1 up, i have been looking this stuff up in the encyclopaedia 4 ages trying 2 get my facts right, i even scanned a map of ocean currents out of a giant atlas 2 try and get this stuff right so plez be nice i've done my best! I do want reviews though, good or bad. OK rant over, here's the story.

"…three canoe like things of giant proportions with strange cloud like things pulling them forward and many long thin spidery legs coming out of each side that every now and again would spin in a circle pushing against the water like canoe paddles, I think they were powered by people." Finished Amonsovn in the stunned silence.

Jason had been on the Maria for so long he could understand why travellers in stories started kissing the ground and all that when they finally found land. He watched as the land drew closer. Minos was the king of Crete and was building himself a huge empire and he was employing them to explore and scout out the land around them, raiding and pillaging the settlements they came across. Jason shuddered, that man was evil. He just hoped there were not any natives on the land ahead, just food, water and a means to find out were they are, maybe from the stars. If the islands were inhabited they would have to burn the settlements and plunder the place for goods that might amuse Minos, even people, Minos seemed to enjoy having them as helpless slaves in his hands, particularly the women. He shuddered again, he hoped it was totally uninhabited and then they could head back home. He was relieved there was land though. They had been caught in a terrible storm and driven North for many days and everyone was on skimpy rations to try and make the food last.

The land they reached first was all steep cliffs. They continued along the coast until they reached a gap in the shear rock, the flag ship of Minos turned in there first; it turned out to be a large bay though it had a narrow entrance. With a sinking heart Jason saw the canoes beached under a crude shelter above the tide line.

There was just about enough deep water in the bay for the three ships to anchor off, although the last one was blocking the exit. Jason was not the first to go ashore but from the corner of his eye he saw them sink the canoes and dismantle the shelter for fire wood. This always happened, a few things were salvaged and the rest is destroyed. The first time he had been taken on a raid he had been horrified, since then he had learnt to retreat inside his own mind during the attack. At least he tried just to kill cleanly, what some of the others did was much worse, it was the only way he could live with himself.

Everyone sat in grim silence, Ruatonim watched as it was announced that the scouting party sent out earlier that day still had not returned so the strangers had to be presumed hostile

"Stay in your homes and keep hidden," continued Amonsovn, her face shadowed and her voice threaded with anger, "when they arrive here I want all of you who are in fighting condition to meet them with me, perhaps they _are_ peaceful, but those who come in peace would not stay hidden till the sun is slipping over the horizon, and the light is fading as I speak. All families with children I ask you to make sure someone stays with them. Let us hope there is a simple explanation for their seeming hostility." She paused then added in a sadder tone, "I'm sorry."

She paused again, face lined with grief for her lost people, but then she lifted her head stubbornly her jaw set in anger, "but if we must go down we will go down fighting," There was a noise, it started as a murmur and then began to rise as she spoke, "and I will be at your head." The people had their blood boiling and Ruatonim found himself beginning to shout with them,

"We are not as helpless as we seem," Continued Amonsovn, "if they think they can kill our son and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives and then think we will be easy prey they are very much mistaken!" Amonsovn was now shouting over the noise hair flying about her face in a fiery golden halo, her eyes on fire with passion and anger, they had dared to attacked her people, her people! And they would regret it, "If we are to be defeated then let it be a glorious end!" Aroused by her fiery speech, grieving families whose children or relative and loved ones had been in the scouting party were now screaming for blood and arming them selves, "Let no one say we were defeated easily, with out a fight, for if they do they are lying from the bottom of their soul and may the ghosts of our people arise and make them right their grievous mistake!" The noise was now deafening, only snatches of words could be heard now and again as one and all shouted for blood. Kataalac had been aloud out with her torso heavily bandaged and a wooden board keeping her back straight and she too was screaming, even round Omiphaiga was jumping around and forgetting about her patient anger pumping through her veins.

Ruatonim limped over to Amonsovn, his leg was still paining him.

"No, Ruatonim," Amonsovn began before he could open his mouth, "You cannot fight, you must take Kataalac back to your home and guard her and your son, Kataalac can fight but she has been injured very badly and you must protect your son, you cannot come with me."

"But…" pleaded Ruatonim

"No." Amonsovn finished sternly. She turned her back on him and he left with Kataalac. Many of the people were going back to their homes but a large group had collected around her, bringing spears, bows and arrows hunting knifes and even kitchen knifes and the odd sword, swords were treasured no one made them any more and the few that were left were honoured as they were left over from the ancestral battle many years ago about a kidnap and possible murder. In sudden silence they stood.

"As I speak our enemies as sneaking out in the cover of the coming dark, dragging their cowardly hides around us." Amonsovn spoke into the silence, "They out number us, they have superior weapons and armament, we are but a bunch of native savages to them, but they will remember this day to their last dying breath. We will make sure of that." A nod ran through the gathered people. "We are the Hytagarians; we will fight to the last. We must spread out; we do not know where they will first come from." They dispersed and spread out around the village.

Amonsovn drew the sword that was strapped diagonally across her back, this was the most treasured sword of all, it had been with the tribe for as long as could be remembered and was passed down by the tribe leaders from generation to generation, it was made out of a beautiful blue-grey metal and had an intricately wrought handle of many incomprehensible designs and a beautiful amber stone with a leaf buried in it, the only one of its kind, there was no amber on the islands. Amonsovn crept out through the darkness into the trees in the direction the ships were. Her thin animal skin shoes did not make a sound, she had had years of practise stalking animals in these very trees and she was one of the best stealth hunters. Hidden in the trees she saw the invaders. They were all men dressed in strange cloths armed with swords, bows and what she took to be poorly made clubs. They were marching along in a long column through the trees blundering and crashing about. The trees seemed to be unnerving them and they were all huddled close together clutching their weapons. Amonsovn crept back to the settlement and rounded up her fighters,

"They are very stupid; they are crashing though the trees in one large body, they have given themselves away with all their noise and babbling in their incomprehensible language and lost the element of surprise and they aren't even spreading out to surround us. They still have greater numbers and superior weapons so don't get too self assured, it looks like we are going to go down in the hands of imbeciles." Amonsovn whispered quietly into the darkness in disgust. "Right, we will all spread out in a line along here and bring down as many as we can."

Amonsovn stood in the centre of the line, the silence weighing down on her like lead, she could hear her blood pumping through her veins like a drum, a drum of doom. In a daze she watched the enemy appear, they waved their weapons around moving in slow motion towards her, the undisciplined mob crashed into the thin line of her people standing bravely before their home for the last time. Weapons crashed as blade met blade, she swung out Sagiaturiaris (pronounce: Saah-git-ter-e-aris), the blade of the kings in a great arc slicing through a man's sword arm then quickly back slashed through the mans neck.

Kieltavn saw her whirlwind through the enemies the great sword thrumming in her hands, her hair silhouetted her face and a wild light was in her eyes, the clan had done good the day they had chosen her as Lelta, she would never abandon them. He admired that woman with all his heart. The blade of the kings sung in her hands and they were one, Amonsovn alone took down half of the ones killed by them, around them enemies and friends alike fell. Kieltavn now saw the purpose of the ill made clubs, they had been set alight and homes were being torched and everything was now lit with the eerie flickering orange light of the flames.

The enemy leader was dumfounded, the skill of the raw natives they faced was astounding, at the centre of them all was a demon woman and a terrible sword, the last thing many of his men saw was her demonic face and the death song of the sword in her hands ringing in their ears. He had to do something about her. From the safe place where he was regarding the battle he strung his bow and reached over his shoulder for an arrow.

Ruatonim and Kataalac hid, Ruatonim stood behind the door and Kataalac took Icaieris, blissfully sleeping, and hid him in the deep shadows of chimney, then she took up her bow and hunting knife. They also stood in silence listening to the drum beats of their hearts and their ragged breathing sounding harsh and loud in the silence. The sounds of a fight began to filter in towards them, Icaieris woke in the corner but stayed hidden, and even he could feel the tension in the air.

Suddenly light flooded in through the windows, but not sunlight, this was the flickering yellow light of the flames on a funeral pyre. The shouts and cries drew closer and the sound of blade on blade shattered through the little hut. In the corner poor Icaieris whimpered in fear. Kataalac leaned around the door post and started firing arrows into the midst of the fight. For a while the area around the hut was clear of strangers but they just kept coming and then she ran out of arrows. Ruatonim took down the first man to step foot in the hut with his Kaeer but his broken leg was a real problem and soon they were both fighting inside the hut.

Icaieris, eyes wide with fear watched as first his father, then his mother went down and the flames crept in around him. He closed his eyes and slept, he new his life was ending and it ended painlessly. He dreamt of his mother but then she dissolved and became another, a tall beautiful woman with olive skin and black hair fluttering around her face in the nonexistent wind. The figure introduced herself as Kra, the Hytagarian goddess. She brought him to meet his family.

AN. Boohoooo! didn't want to write this, i feel like a murderer! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! (lots of !s) Going 2 have nightmares tonight about being a murderess!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter4

AN. Plez stay with me cos when i go bk 2 school i don't know how much tping i can get done. This nxt chp's a bit sad so may need some tissues.

The Raeracc stopped and looked at the desolated area. She sniffed the air. She smelt the stench of death, pain and burning, but in amongst it all she

smelt something different – life. It was dwindling fast. Now Raeraccs may just seem like strange land and water beasts – but they are intelligent on an alarming scale. There, in amongst the burnt and blackened desecration lay a body only scorched by the flames. The Raeracc trotted over and pawed at it. There were several cuts and scratches in it but most concerning were the wooden things sticking into its side, blood weeping sluggishly from around the shafts, and a large slash that sliced its right cheek, curled down the side of its neck and down the centre of the creature's body, it did not seem too deep though and it did not look fatal. That one life in all this had survived was a miracle, the Raeracc thought. She struggled a bit as the creatures hands were still clutched tightly around a heavy blade but she managed to get it slung across her back.

She brought it back to her cubbing den, Raeraccs do have gills but after birth it takes a few weeks for the young to fully develop and then they needed to be taught how to hunt and such like so they live on the land for the first three or so weeks of their lives and Raeraccs have more than one litter a year. She lay the creature down and proceeded to pull out the wooden shafts and clear away the cloth around them. She showed the wounds to her mate and he left coming back a few minutes later, water sliding off his sleek gold-red fur, with a large mouthful of seaweed. Together they put a little of the purple fronds into the wounds then pressed the green tube like strands down over them. Soon the bleeding stopped. The two stood together in that moment of peace gazing with saddened eyes at the sole survivor. No one knows really what the IQ of a Raeracc is but, like their relatives the Naish, it is known that they have a concept of many complex emotions. If someone was watching, there was probably a fly around, pity would be the chief thing they would see in the eyes of the Raeraccs; pity on the poor creature in so much pain, pity on how alone it now was, pity for the people who were killed, and pity for the misguided beings that could do this to their own kind for no apparent reason. But they were proud of themselves, proud that out of all the death and disaster they could save one life, they have what you might call a 'Good Samaritan' instinct.

Amonsovn dreamed. She dreamt again of the screams, and the burning. Her mind tortured itself with memories of her people falling around her, she could not save them and her imagination tormented itself with images of Kieltavn being captured or killed by the raiders; or trapped beneath the burning ruins with her watching, paralysed, unable to help. She dreamt of the raiders lining up those captured and looking them over,

"This one is of no use to me, not strong enough to be a working slave or a body guard and is not exactly gifted with good looks; we have no use for this one." The evil leader in her dreams said dispassionately, his voice drifting through to her as if for a long way off, yet the man stood close to her as he surveyed Kieltavn with cold, emotionless, grey eyes. The dirty, rat faced, grinning man holding the chains that were held painfully tight around Kieltavns neck motioned forward a huge muscled man who dealt a swift blow to the chain that went round his ankles and connected him to the rest of the captured people.

"Amonsovn," Kieltavn cried out, his eyes rolling in fear like a frightened animals, "Amonsovn, help me!"

Amonsovn tried to reach out to him, she tried to call his name but she could neither move nor speak. She watched helpless as Kieltavn was led to the far corner of the room where there was a large pit, the huge man pulled from his belt a great axe, Kieltavn stood on the rim of the bottomless pit, the man raised the lethal blade and swung at his back, to slice him in two and throw the body into the pit in the same swipe.

The terrifying image dissolved into more fever ridden nightmares and all the while the Raeraccs watched over her, waiting for the fever to break. Amonsovn was like this for many days, even weeks, but eventually the fever broke and Amonsovn woke to find the large face of a male Raeracc gazing at her. It was an unnerving experience but the creature did not look like it was about to course her harm. It let out a series of grunting calls. A female, females were more golden than the males and the males were a redder colour, came trotting over followed by three young ones. Amonsovn watched as the small fuzzy gold creatures clambered all over their mother with their small webbed paws.

Amonsovn decided to asses her wounds as the fluffy things continued to try and eat their mothers tail. Both her arms and hands seemed to be OK although she found her right hand was still clenched tightly around Sagiaturiaris and it was difficult to let go, when she did she found the markings had cut deep into her flesh and the strange runes on the swords hilt were cut into her palm, that was funny, the runes on her hand looked identical to the ones on the hilt but they should have been a mirror image. She stared at her hand, it was the mirror image, she realised, the runes mirror image was exactly the same as the real thing. Curious. Her hand was not bleeding, although it was encrusted with blood and the blade itself was covered with it. She then discovered the five arrow wounds on her side and chest, she stared at them. The half healed, scaring holes riddled her ribs but not one had pierced her lungs or heart and there was a great curving line along her whole torso and up her neck. Gingerly she raised her left arm and felt the puckered line curve up the right side of her neck and curled onto her right cheek in a graceful hook shape.

The Raeraccs had cleared away the remnants of her tattered clothing, though it looked like they had kept her warm with the various plant life that was spread over her, and there was a strange dark green seaweed that consisted of long thin tendrils that had been pressed over her healing arrow wounds. Her legs too seemed in a bad way, they were a patchy pink – burnt – and the shiny new skin was starting to grow over them, the result was ugly and her legs would be covered in scar marks where ever the burning had been worse even when they were healed. She was collecting a lot of scars. When she tried to sit up the female Raeracc beside her pushed her gently back down with a paw as pain lanced like fire throw her chest.

She drifted off to sleep again but this time it was a deep, dreamless sleep bereft of the nightmares and the smell of burning. The female Raeracc drew away her cubs to the back of the den to let Amonsovn sleep in peace.

_Selene has started her move._

As time went by Amonsovn made a full recovery though she would always have the numerous small scars on her legs, the scars from the five arrows, the sword wound and the runes engraved on her palm. Her skin had knitted itself back together again much quicker after the fever had broken. Amonsovn had made herself a primitive Kaeer using stone and wood slotted together and then bound with Qkior (pronounce: key-or) tendons. A Qkior was a small monkey like creature that dug holes in the ground with its shovel like paws and ate insects. She had also cured some hides and made some things for herself including clothes, she had never been one for sowing but they were not bad. She had been for several walks outside the den over the last couple of days but this was the first time she had been back to where the remains of the village were. The hill was steep and Amonsovns legs were still on the mend, she was working on building back up the muscle on them, so she tiered quickly but this was good for her. She had brought a large water skin made by her, it was serviceable enough.

She reached the top of the hill and looked out at the place she had once known so well, the lake, the hidden pool area hidden by reeds, scrub and trees where bonds went on their first night together. She smiled faintly at the age old custom but then she smile filled with pain and faded, she would never go there, Kieltavn was dead or enslaved, she would never see him again. Her eyes filled with sadness. She threaded her way throw the battle field carnage. Slowly she made her way into the black and burnt out remains of the settlement.

Here was the skin workers homes, the two familys had worked together to produce all sorts of animal skin products and would give you a good pair of shoes or such like for some good skins. There was the canoe makers home and the long building the bonds worked in when they were making the canoes. Here were the remains of Kataalac and Ruatonims home. She clambered into the desolate wreckage, here were the remains of Kataalacs Naish head, she had been so proud of it, no one had ever brought down a Naish with a Kaeer before. Her hand went to the tiny box that hung around her neck, Kieltavn had given it to her and in it there was a piece of his hair and a piece of Kataalacs who was like a sister to her. A glossy red lock and a coal black lock encased in the intricate box made from Wellelca wood e-which is a beautiful red-brown chestnutty colour the piece it was made froms grain was perfectly straight except for in the very centre of the lid where there was a knot in the wood, a tiny swirling oval shape. There was also two tiny charcoal drawing carefully preserved inside of Kieltavn and Kataalac.

Something caught her eye, she moved over. There among the desecrated rubble was a tiny piece of wood that had not quite been burnt completely. She picked it up and brushed away the cold ash. A stay tear wended its way down her cheek. She would recognise this carving anywhere, it was a bulls head, it came from Icaieris's cradle that Bregt, the wood worker, had decorated for the bonds. She had loved Icaieris like her own son and he had taken to calling her Aunty Ammy although he was still very young and it was hard to tell what he was saying and it sounded more like ornty ammmmie. She felt so angry, so angry that one so young could be killed in cold blood. The poor child had done nothing to these invaders yet now he was dead, and she had not been able to stop them. A second tear trickled down her other cheek. She placed the charred fragment into the box.

Amonsovn stood and walked a few paces away, then fell to her knees crying. She had not cried since she was a very small girl but now the tears were gushing forth like a great river swelled with pain bursting a dam and rushing out in a huge swirling torrent. She was kneeling before Kieltavns body, his hands still clutching his Kaeer. Throw a curtain of tears, like peering throw a waterfall, Amonsovn looked out over the remains of her home, she had not saved them, she had not been able to save them, they were dead. They were dead and she was alive. She was their Lelta! Why had she not saved them? Why had she not been able to save them? Was she too weak? They were dead and she was alive. Why did it have to be? She put her arm around the female Raeraccs shoulders, she knew what ever she did she could not forget her people, everything here reminded her of them, how they had died and she had not. She could not stay here much longer. She could not go on like this much longer. She got up and followed the Raeracc back to the den and her second litter of pesky, inquisitive, fuzz balls.

AN. Sniffle, sniffle, going 2 cry! Well, at least it's not a cliffy this time. First 2 were and the last one u think everyone dead so this insnt 2 bad.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter5

An. am feeling soooo depressed, i've only got one hit for chp 4 and 5 revs 4 the whole thing and 4 of thm don't count as i know them and they only went on my site because they knew me and are just doing it to be kind, i don't think they actually like it. this will probably be my last pg i bother to put up, there's no point in continuing. nobody's even going to read this, that's even more depressing.

The Raeraccs stood late in the night watching over Amonsovns sleeping form, looking so peaceful now with her golden hair tumbling around her face, the eagle like features calm and serene. They conversed together in their low, grunting tones and whistles. Raeraccs have a language of sorts, just as some animals have different alarm calls for different types of predators eg danger from above like birds so hide under/on the ground, danger from the ground like big cats so hide in the trees. The Raeraccs language is more sophisticated and they even have ways of describing things, though, most sounds have many different meanings depending on the context. The conversation now went something like this:

"She/he go/leave/be absent/not here soon/not yet/in the future?"

"Yes/true/correct afraid it is so/sorry of/it's ashame/its sad it is probable/possibly not but probably yes/most lightly"

"I/me is sad/is upset/unhappy/not pleased/not good miss/wish for she/he soon/not yet/in the future."

"Never mind/oh well goodnight/good/goodbye for now/see you later." The male Raeracc finished the conversation with a kind of acknowledgement that humans at least have developed, it is almost just a way of ending a conversation or acknowledging some one with out one and wishing the other well. He then padded off to sleep.

Amonsovn knew she could not stay long. Every morning she jogged to Racshyahrmalrl, Kataalacs cliff, and watched the rebirth of the Phinixac from the tree branch and contemplated on everything, sometimes she would stay up there for hours. Then she would jog back to the den taking a longer root to build up the muscles on her legs and keep the rest of her in condition. One such morning when she was jogging back thinking about the giant things the raiders had come in when she remembered something. A long time ago one of the people's ancestors had created a wind powered canoe and sailed it. They had discovered a huge landmass not that far away, but the raiders had not come from there, the raiders had com from further away.

She thought about it as she jogged, it could not be built like a canoe as animal leathers would not be strong enough to support the wooden pole that would hold up the sail. The craft would probably need to be solid wood. There were many things that would cause problems and many things would have to be changed.

When she arrived back at the den she started a small fire for charcoal and stripped some bark off the branches. She had never been brilliant at creating charcoal sticks but they would work and soon she had the writing equipment she needed and started making sketches, plans and ideas onto the untreated bark. Several times she had to refresh her materials. She worked like this for most of the day.

Along time she worked on the boat idea and began creating small models to test. Originally she had thought she would have to hollow out a huge log and the model for that worked but she knew she would have great difficulty in finding a log big enough. She then tried to find away to create a boat body out of many different pieces of wood but she could not find a way to make it water tight and all her models sank. She started to experiment with different types of wood and found that Uuragiahharis (pronounce: Or-age-ear-who-r-is) wood was very light and had a very sticky sap that seemed to help water proof it. She tried putting the sap in the joins in the wood, she knew some basic carpentry and had quite enjoyed it when she was young, it worked at first but then the sap got washed out. She found ,when in disgust she had thrown the model on the fire, that when heated the sap became much harder. She made a stone bowl, filled it with the sap and rigged it up over the flames. She boiled the sap and after various attempts made her model water tight. After that it was back to work on a sail design and also what to make the sail from.

Several months later Amonsovn had completed her boat. It had taken a long time. She had had to plan it and build it, both of which had taken a lot of time but then she had had to teach her self how it sail it, she knew the mechanics of it as she had designed it but It was much harder to do in the practise. The sail had also had to be redesigned several times and the actual making of it had been very tricky but now she was ready, she hoped, and it had been named Asspsieaichan (pronounce: Assps-iair-chan) meaning Last Light/Flame.

Provisions had also been tricky but now she had a large supply of 'salted' meat that she reckoned would last and she also had some fruit even though that would only last a week at the most. There was also several large hopefully water tight containers of fresh water. Well, this was it.

Amonsovn stood on beach in the bay and regarded her creation critically with her green-brown eyes, it was long and quite thin with various weights under the bottom to balance it and to try and prevent capsizing. The mast was a good stout pole all thought it would bend in strong winds so hopefully would not snap too easily and the sails were made of treated animal hides. She had spent ages on those so they now were virtually water resistant. She had plenty of spare and would rig it over the back end of the boat and sleep under it at night. She chose to sleep at the back because then she would be able to keep an eye on the steering device she had created when fiddling around with one of her make shift paddles, it consisted of a large board that was attached to a handle, she had made a crude tiller.

Mentally Amonsovn ran over everything she had put in and all the things she might need on a long voyage. Now it came to it she did not want to leave, the island was everything she had ever know, it had been her very existence but now she needed to leave, she had to leave. For one last time she walked to her home. The journey was quick and easy now she was in full heath. She walked for one last time through the ashes of her people. Around them she had knotted a living vine telling of her peoples last hour. The vine would grow but he story would always be there at the heart and as she made it she sent her prayers up to their Goddess Kra in a low lilting voice.

"Mother Goddess, my people are dead and gone. It was not within my power to stop this though I tried with all my heart and soul. It shames me that I live when they are dead, but as the last of my people I will strive on even though I am all alone. Let this be the last resting place of my people, make this holy ground, and let none of evil soul with evil intent ever enter this place, honour the souls of my people. They died bravely against those to whom they had done no harm. Innocents were killed. Let all those who desecrate this place from now on perish in fire and pain. Let none harm the eternal rest of my people." As she spoke she knotted the curse into the vine. In painful silence she then rose and began to tread around her home singing:

Their lives are at end,

Their time is over.

Their wills never bend.

They strived unto the last,

Keeping on for their people.

But they are now past.

So take them in your arms Mother Goddess, Mother Goddess

Take them in your arms I do pray,

Their hearts were strong yet loving,

They were fire yet still tender,

Their will was iron yet giving,

So take them in your arms I do pray.

Take them in your arms Mother Goddess.

Once round one way then back around in the other she went singing The Last Song, the song for those who have gone on, her last farewell to her people. When the song ended she strode down to the bay. She had to keep herself going or she would never be able to leave, yet she could not stay either, she would go insane. She turned and gazed back at the land as she was climbing onto the boat. The Raeraccs had appeared on the shore stepping out from the trees onto the sand. In her time with them she had picked up the rudimentary basics of their language although she still found it very confusing. There was one time when she had finally managed to get her first fishing line to work and caught some fish she came in and told them proudly, "I am a caught fish!" It had made the Raeraccs roll around on the floor emitting strange sawing whistles that she guessed was laughter, it had taken her weeks to work out what she had actually said.

Now she walked up to the two adults and the now full grown cubs that had been there when she was first taken to the den and their current litter of fuzzy terrors. She gently placed her hand on each of their foreheads intern and touched noses with them as she had seen them do in farewell. As she did this other Raeraccs began to emerge from the trees, some she knew, some she did not. Even a few Naish appeared. She stood and looked out over the arrayed cats and they all shared her gaze, proud amber eyes staring back at her. As she stood there each and every animal opened its mouth and emitted and strange, echoing, long, deep sound that grew louder and louder, the mournful cry reverberating around her, weaving its slow rhythmic pattern, its dance entwining her very soul. Mouths gaped and white teeth glistened around their gaping maws. The song that seemed to emerge from the noise was slow and beautiful it captured her completely and sound sprung, unbidden, to her lips and she too opened her mouth and sung. Together great cats and woman sang their last farewell together, a farewell of deep mourning as they knew they would never meet again until they left the earth for the great lands of the Gods in whatever afterlife awaited them. The song told of grief and mourning, it told of the pain of parting, it expressed feelings that are so hard to put into words, it told of the gladness they had met and the things that had been done together, it said it all.

When the sound died away Amonsovn dashed the tears from her eyes and promised herself that if she could she would return sometime. Then with great sadness she turned and climbed into her boat. There was no wind in the bay so she used her hand carved paddles and a long wooden pole with a hook on the end to propel her out of the bay where the wind caught the sail and blew her away to the loneliness of the open, endless sea.

The sea is a fickle lady and Amonsovn had to survive huge waves three times her height and calm days when there was not a ripple on the surface and she had to row to keep going. Amonsovn knew the constellations over the island well, there is a story that when Kra's lover the sun was away she had cried and these were the stars that now hang above still falling and in thousands of years time they will reach the earth on the last day of Time. What puzzled Amonsovn was that little by little the stars seemed to be moving across the sky, she still held on to the constellations that she knew to guide her in the right direction, she guessed that she was seeing the Goddesses tears from a different place but it was puzzling.

_Amonsovn is about to hit the storm, the mysterious storm that seems to keep changing direction sweeping boats along the straights of Gibraltar. Selenes almost done._

an. why am I bothering to put this up?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter6

AN. _Why_ did my parents want 2 mve bk 2 this stupid, damp little island? i was born in Texas and the _only_ good thing about England is that you get snow – about once a year in a pitiful drizzle that is no good to anyone! All it ever seems 2 do here is RAIN! GRRRRRRRRRRR!

Well as u cn c i am still uploading chps thnks 2 Lady-of-Sea's encouraging rev so thnks 2 u cos i wznt sure if I would bother. Also thnks 2 10inchspider (lol!) lv the name! r u sure ur nt 1madcat in disguise cos she sid xactly the same thing. Well there's this strange thing called time, i guess i didn't explain it verywell but for everyone who also got confused the 'cat things' they work in packs or prides or wt ever u wnt 2 call thm lke lions do an thz why theirs a lot of them, don't worry if still don't undrstnd cos its nt vry imprtnt so tht's ok. But anywy thnks **_loads_** 2 u 2 cos nbdy else has bothered 2 rev xept my friends so finger up 2 thse who cnt be bothered. I carve ur names in gold 10inchspider and Lady-of-Sea!

_Just over one month later._

Mirrendi had lived Greece all her life in a tiny little village by the coast and she was now married to a farmer called Feirthran Pentacouast and together they had set up a bakery which she now ran. Her brother had become some kind of explorer and her sister lived in Athens serving the King or something fancy, Mirrendi was quite happy with her small uneventful life. Mirrendi also had twin daughters of ten years old that were playing down on the shingle beach. They were old enough to look after themselves she thought.

It was early in the morning and Feirthran was having a lie in after rushing around last night trying to get all the chickens in their huts early before the storm hit. It had been a big storm and the twins insisted they had seen a small boat being smashed against the rocks a little further down the beach from them.

"_What gruesome imaginations they have,"_ she thought, _"No one would have gone out in that weather, it would be suicide!_ _If you went out far enough to fish there is alongshore current that with the wind from the storm blowing you inland you'd quickly get thrown against the rocks!"_ She smiled, putting the finished loaf on the sunny windowsill to rise before she baked it. The twins were probably scampering all over the rocks right now looking for their imaginary wreak. She took down the bread she had left to rise earlier and put it in the oven. Suddenly she heard pounding feet and the twins burst into the kitchen, their faces flushed with excitement, their dark hair flying everywhere.

"Mum, mum, mum, mum!" Yelled the first one into the kitchen, Giabeirai. "Guess what we found!"

"There _was_ a wreck!" Exclaimed the other, Hiarettet. "And a dead body!"

"It wasn't dead!" Countered Giabeirai, "It was still breathing!"

"No it wasn't, it was a dead body!"

"Wasn't!"

"Was!"

"Wasn't!"

"WAS!"

"WASN'T!"

"**WAS!"**

"Calm down!" Mirrendi intervened before it got worse, "I guess you'd better show me then." She sighed wondering what the two had found this time. She wrote a quick note to her husband encase he got up before she was back, took her apron off and walked off down to the beach with the twins scampering around her trying to get her to hurry up and pulling on her arms.

She trudged along the beach with the harsh hot wind pulling through her hair and tugging on her cloths. Bits of hot sand kept finding their way into her shoes and blouse and even her skirt, she could not understand how the twins liked playing in this. They rounded the headland to where the rocks started. Mirrendi gasped.

"See mum! We told you there was a wreak!" Hiarettet said proudly. High on the jagged black rocks was beached the splintered remains of a small boat, it was a strange boat, the tatters of sail was a curious brown and the wood unpainted and pale through the caked salt and brine except for a few bits that seemed to have carving on them.

"So where's this dead body then?" Mirrendi asked nervously.

"It wasn't dead." Muttered Giabeirai sullenly as the two of them began to climb over the sharp rocks with well practised ease. Mirrendi wisely followed behind where they went as she knew the slippery wet rocks were quite hazardous. The two jumped down over the top of a jagged protrusion that was like a small mountain range into a gully with sand at the bottom. Lying at a strange angle was a body face down in the sand. It was a tall muscular woman with bright golden-red hair and strange coarse clothes. Mirrendi clambered over to her.

"Hiarettet," Mirrendi turned to her daughters, "run back to the house and fetch your father and Mr Heltac the doctor, tell him to bring his equipment and a stretcher, quickly!" With a nod Hiarettet sprang back up the rocks, over the rim and out of sight.

"Right," Mirrendi turned back to assess the body, "It looks like the mast has trapped her legs and probably broken some of her ribs. Giabeirai, if you climb around there and grab that end let's see if we can lift it away and turn her over." Giabeirai climbed over the rocks to behind the body and wriggled her end free and together they managed to lift it away and dumped it on the sand. Slowly and as gently as possible they rolled her over.

"She's still breathing." Mirrendi sighed in relief. "But it looks like that when the mast broke away she was hit by a flying splinter. It doesn't look good, she might lose her left eye."

A minute later Hiarettet returned with tall Feirthran easily keeping up and fat Mr Heltac puffing and wheezing behind, he was a good man and a good doctor for all that though. Mr Heltac when he had finally fumbled his way, with a lot of help, into the gully drew a sharp breath in through his teeth.

"She's got very battered. I wonder why she was out there last night, doesn't look like she's from these parts." He bent down to examine her more closely. "Looks like a broken left leg and some fractured ribs. The cut on her face is the most concerning, it's shallow but I don't know if I can save that eye." He stood. "Let's get her up to your house Mr Pentacouast, yours is closest." He turned to Feirthran, "If you could slide the stretcher under her and I'll lift first her legs then her torso and Mrs Pentacouast if you could please support her head in case of further damage I think Mr Pentacouast and I can carry her up."

They did as he said although getting the stretcher over the rocks was tricky although with Gaibeirai and Hiarettet navigation and Mirrendi helping the overweight Mr Heltac they got there. The stranger was lying on the kitchen table that had been cleared to make space, Mr Heltac had strapped up her left leg and bandaged her torso. She had an amazing collection of scars they speculated on how she might had got them, Mr Heltac insisted that she had distinct burns, arrow wounds and a sword wound cutting from her cheek to her abdomen, Mirendi could not tell the difference between one scar and the next but even Mr Heltac was puzzled by the marks on her right hand. Then he did what he could for her face, "Keep it clean but I doubt it can be save, I'll come back every evening and see how it's doing but I probably will need to remove it." And then he left The two of them to look after her. They took her up to the spare room Mirrendi's father used to live in at the front of the house looking out over the sea before he died. She hoped the stranger would pull through.

Mirrendi sat up with her through the night in case she regained consciousness. At times she ranted and even screamed in her sleep in a totally alien language or even in grunts and whistles. She kept a bowl of cool water and a cloth by the bed and tried to sooth her when it was worse although it was difficult not to get hit. Her hand was constantly clenched around a small wooden box of a strange beautiful red wood.

"_What has the poor woman lived through that makes her scream so?" _Mirrendi wondered, _"It must have been terrible." _

Eventually the stranger slept soundly and her hand relaxed around the box thought it never left it. The first time Mirrendi tried to slip it out from her hand the woman had cried out and her other arm had swung around fetching Mirrendi a blow on the cheek, but a little while later Mirrendi managed to ease it from her long fingers. Inside she found a piece of charred wood, a lock of glossy copper hair and one of coal block and two tiny sketches in charcoal on a strange pale bark. Mirrendi knew she had pried into something very private and carefully put the box back. Mirrendi wondered who those people were and what had happened to them. It was probably intertwined with the woman's mysterious appearance and probably terrifying past, although Mirrendi did not know. Mirrendi wiped the strangers face once more with the damp cloth and settled back down to watch her, she seemed to be sleeping soundly now.

Amonsovn woke to pain. Her chest and her left leg hurt with a terrible ache that increased to lancing spasms when she shifted even a tiny bit and her left eye and cheek hurt like the flames of hell were tearing through them and the eye would not open. She peeled open her right eye, even this was a stiff and painful manoeuvre, she was in a strange bright white room which was cluttered with odds and ends which she had never seen the like of before. The thing she was lying on was also alien to her, it was a rectangle raised off the ground, it was soft, and over her were a few strange, thin coverings. Over in a chair by the only window in the room a small thin woman was dozing with her black hair hiding most of her face and drifting back and forth in the breeze created by her gentle breathing. Amonsovn tried to sit up but fell back with a gasp as sharp pain lanced through her chest. The woman's eyes flickered open, they were a dark hazel brown. Amonsovn had never seen someone with such a dark complexion. The woman stood with a smile, she was really quite pretty Amonsovn noticed, the woman opened her mouth and admitted some strange sounds:

"Good morning."

"Who are you?" Amonsovn asked in confusion, "Where am I? What happened?" The woman shook her head with a rueful smile.

"I'm sorry, I cannot understand you." She said although this was lost on Amonsovn who looked on, perplexed, as the woman threw wide the shutters on the window. Morning sunlight streamed in. the woman looked out over the sea, shimmering in the light and sending golden shards sparkling everywhere, she seemed to be deep in thought. The woman smiled again and turned away from the window. She held up her hand and pointed at her self.

"Mirrendi." The woman said. Amonsovn stared at her. The woman did it again. Comprehension spread on Amonsovns face and she too smiled.

"Mig-en-dik." Amonsovn tried, the foreign syllables feeling slippery and strange on her tongue.

"Mih-rrrren-deee." The other woman said slowly.

"Mig-rrrreighn-deeeih" Amonsovn tried. The woman smiled and pointed at Amonsovn, "You?" She asked. Amonsovn had the idea now.

"Amonsovn." She said

"Age-moon-soog-veg-en." Mirrendi tried haltingly.

"Aah-monn-sooo-vnnn." Amonsovn repeated slower.

"Aah-moon-sooo-voon." Mirrendi tried again. Amonsovn gave her an encouraging smile, it was close enough, the woman looked pleased anyway. Just then the door opened and a tall dark man with dark brown hair and eyes came in, he was not actually as tall as Amonsovn.

"How's she doing?" He asked although this just passed over her head as senseless jabber.

"Well, she got quite a bit of sleep last night but I think a lot of the time she was unconscious or in terrible nightmares. You should have heard her! She screamed and shouted in her strange language and managed to fetch me several blows including the one on my cheek."

"I _did _hear her and there's a nice purple bruise coming up on your cheek. How's her eye?" Mirrendi winced.

"Not good, I'll bathe it again this morning but I'm afraid there's not going to be a lot we can do about it."

"What are you talking about," Amonsovn asked in confusion, "you sound worried, are you talking about me, I wish I could understand you!" The two people looked over in response to her anguished comments.

"Goodness that is a strange language." Feirthran remarked. "Do you have any idea of who she is?"

"She says her name is, Agy-moon-sog-voom." Mirrendi tried.

"Aah-monn-sooooo-vnnn." Amonsovn corrected. The three spent awhile trying to say each others names and trying to explain why both their last names were Pentacouast, eventually Amonsovn had a rough idea and they left her to rest.

Mirrendi and Feirthran were sitting in their livening room area that night after the twins had been sent to bed, they had refused to let the two disturb the stranger and this had upset them. The kitchen and the living room area were in the same room, it was a long rectangle with the kitchen at one end, the living area at the other and a big range like fire in the middle so it could be cooked over and sat by in the evening. They had a small dinning room for when they had guests but mostly they ate at the table opposite the fire. There were a reasonably well off family, not rich and not poor. They were happy with that although Mirrendi's siblings were both in eager to gain power in their own ways. Mirrendi and Feirthran were sitting together on a sofa sort of thing.

"She's very different, isn't she?" Said Feirthran breaking the calm silence, "She's incredibly tall, taller than _me_, and her hair, bright shimmering gold! Some people have blond hair but hers is not like that, it's _gold_. And her eyes, I've seen people with red eyes and even people with bluish eyes but hers are so light they could be white or yellow!"

"Yes," agreed Mirrendi, "and her accent, she doesn't say rh, she says Rrrrrhr, she _purrs_ it and anything she says even something like Pentacouast comes out strange, silky and foreign."

"Maybe she came from the far north, they say the people up there are very pale and tall," Feirthran commented, "but they say the people up there have pale skin as well, hers is dark and weather beaten."

"Then perhaps she came from over the sea," Mirrendi wondered, "all the people found over there are said to be so dark they look black, she's not that dark but maybe if you kept going you might find people like her. I'll talk to my brother about it, he said he might be back some time around now, he knows all sorts of different types of people from his travels. Maybe some day the stranger will tell us herself."

"Yes, maybe." Answered Feirthran thoughtfully.

AN. **_Soooooooooooooooo_** tiered still, can't think what's come over me. Must keep typing, **must keep… **:_yawn_:**DAMN! **Well before i die I wnt u 2 clk on the submit review sign and tell me wat u think.

**_DO IT!_**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter7

AN. Not sure if I should write anymore as ive bn reading imdcats hp stories and thnk mine is perthetic compared, oh well, this should plrobly be thrown in a trash cn smewere but oh well, it'd here instead.

The next day Mirrendi helped Amonsovn dress and bathed her eye. The fabrics of the clothes were strange and Mirrendi had tried to get her to wear a weird tube around her legs, which was tricky with her broken leg, the thing was tight at the top just below her stomach and clung around her legs getting in the way. Amonsovn had refused to wear it and Mirrendi had had to find her some of Feirthran's trousers, these where to short in the leg by at least an inch and they had to find a long belt to make them stay up. Mirrendi also found her a light brown shirt that was not tight, she did not like the tight shirts Mirrendi had tried to stuff her into first, Mirrendi wore them and they showed off her 'feminine shape' but Amosovn hated them and again they had had to find something ancient, they could not borrow from Feirthran this time as those would have been even tighter across the chest. The shirt she was wearing now was OK although she had already ripped the shoulders and there was a gap between the hem and the top of her trousers. That was alright though, it was a hot day.

They had got her seated in a straight backed chair by the window, her chest area was bound to some planks so she had to sit up poker straight, it was uncomfortable. Finally Mirrendi aloud the twins in to see her. Giabeirai and Hiarettet burst into the room when this was announced and the two of them were whitttering away in their strange tongue with their heads bent over a large brown bag. Amonsovn watched them, Giabeirai was robust with stark, dark brown hair that waved slightly to her shoulders, Hiarettet was very small compared to Amonsovn but was rather taller than most people her age and she was slim and sort of 'streamlined' with black hair like her mothers that also waved but all the way to her waist. They knelt on the floor in front of her and told her their names, giggling at her blundering attempts to get her tongue around them.

She smiled, it was the first time she had smiled since that fated day of flames. The movement felt odd, as if she was doing it for the first time. She looked down. The twins had emptied out the contence of their bag. It was things they had salvaged from the wreak. The first thing was Sagiaturiaris, her sword. Giabeirai held it gingerly and passed it over to her hurriedly. Amonsovn turned it over in her hands, the plain black leather sheath it was in was now extremely battered, perhaps she ought to replace it but she had always used that sheath, she did not want another. Amonsovn drew it, the twins jumped back. She smiled, the harsh, knowing smile of one who is pleased, not happy. The sheath and strap had taken all the damage and the blade itself was fine. She noticed the twins were looking worried. They were staring at the blade hilt and her right hand. The markings. She had forgotten about them. She sheathed the sword and looked at her hand. She made a half hearted attempt to smile at the twins and shrugged. She leaned Sagiaturiaris against the wall.

There was also a selection of paper thin slices of wood only a few of which were still intact. Then there was a pile of knotted cords. She gestured to them to pass her one. It was the longest cord which recorded her journey across the sea. Amonsovn then spent awhile trying to get across to them what it was. When they finally got the message they had insisted she begin to teach them and later tried to teach Amonsovn how they recorded things.

When the two had finally got bored Hiarettet passed her another of the objects from the bag. It looked like a wooden pipe that some people smoke tobacco in except that there were four holes along the top of the thin bit and one on the bottom and there was a thin wooden slide over the open top of the bowl and at the open thin end there were two slits in either side as if something was supposed to be slotted in there.

"Piicsiliavn, Pee-sill-yaan." Amonsovn said slowly. She pointed at some small, square, paper-thin slices of wood.

"Reihyx," She said, "Piicsiliavn reihyx." They passed them up to her and she studied them closely, running her fingers over them. Finally she selected one and put it in her mouth for a minute. She then put the wood, thicker end first, into the grooves. Amonsovn cupped the bowl end in her left hand and placed her thumb on the slide, she them curved her right hands fingers around the thin tube part, placing fingers and thumb so they covered the holes. She raised the end with the Reiyx in it to her lips and blew gently. It produced a beautiful, low, mellow note that seemed it ripple and whisper around the room then died away as if sliding out the door to where it had come from. Then she began to play. This had been her hobby as a girl, she started by learning to play the reekiiz, the same as the piicsiliavn except with out the bowl and slide and then she had progressed to the piicsiliavn and had soon become the best in the clan.

Amonsovn began to play a sad little tune of a woman who had neglected her only child and then lost him and now had to spend all eternity searching for him. A sad, pretty little tune. Well, that was what it started as, but as she played the tune seemed to change, it grew lilting and eerie. Amonsovn forgot what her fingers were doing and became absorbed in the new melody that was twisting throw. It made you think of towering cliffs and thundering waterfalls, lovers jumping to their deaths together, wars of blood and love lost. The twins sat spell bound, in the kitchen Mirrendi stopped pounding dough and paused to listen, Feirthran paused out in the fields, screaming children and crying mothers ceased to make a sound as the tune floated past, twisting and turning, this way and that. It was beautiful and sad but then the final clear notes of the piicsiliavn rippled to a finish and curled and spiralled away into the silence. Mirrendi dashed the tears from her eyes and went to rescue her burning flans, Feirthran sighed and went back to tending the field, life in the village began again.

Amonsovn pulled out the Reihyx and whipped it carefully on her shirt, she did not have many intact anymore. Amonsovn placed the things on the floor next Sagiaturiaris. They then spent the rest of the day trying to piece together the shattered bits of carved wood they had salvage, the name of her little boat, Asspsieaichan.

As time went by Amonsovn began to get better and her eye also recovered though it had been a near miss and she had added even more scars to her collection. She rose with the sun and went jogging along the beach to the rocks were she had been found to watch the sun rise, then she would continue in the same direction for a way and then would circle back over land, Feirthran had come with her the first times she went out and he could not believe she could go that far. Amonsovn became a regular sight in the village, morning and evening. 'The strange foreign woman Ara and her sword', she had been re-named Ara as no one could pronounce her real name, and she always carried Sagiaturiaris with her. Mirrendi and the twins could not understand her; theygot all excited over pretty dresses and the like while Amonsovn refused to _ever_ wear them. Amonsovn had been taken to a tailor who had grumbled and muttered and whipped some sort of measuring device around her and she now had three serviceable pairs of trousers, four shirts and a jacket all in sensible shades of brown or black.

Amonsovn was jogging back through the village, there was going to be some sort of summer/harvest festival in a few days time and everyone seemed to be getting prepared for it. It was going to be a very posh thing, with little pieces of food on dishes and a real orchestra and the tailor Tepis was weighed down with orders for posh gowns and such like, this was the most important occurrence in the little village and everyone was out to make a good impression of themselves. Except for Amonsovn who had only agreed to come on condition that she was aloud to wear the same style clothes as she normally did. Mirrendi had finally agreed to trousers and shirt but Mirrendi had got her a red figure hugging shirt with a low neck line and black trousers that flared out around her feet. It was a good enough compromise. It was the first time Mirrendi was letting the twins go to it, they had never been aloud up that late before, and the two of them were very excited. Hiarettet was going to have a deep blue dress and Giabeirai darkish turquoise-green, they both looked rather nice in them, and Mirrendi was getting a gown the colours of the night sky. Amonsovn was happy with trousers.

Amonsovn reached the little bakery shop part at the front of the house. Mirrendi wasn't there. Amonsovn frowned. It was not like Mirrendi to leave the shop unattended. Just then Mirrendi burst in looking terribly excited. When she saw Amonsovn she began to gabble away at her. Amonsovn had a basic grasp of the language although she had a very strong accent, but what Mirrendi was saying in such a rush was beyond her. Mirrendi rushed away again. Amonsovn followed her through the door at the back, down the hall and into the kitchen/dinning room area.

The twins, Feirthran and Mirrendi were all clustered around a strange woman. She looked very like Mirrendi except she was a bit older and had black curls to her shoulders. She had to be Mirrendi's much talked about elder sister, Apheiunah or Aphei. Aphei looked Amonsovn up and down. Amonsovn regarded her suspiciously, she seemed familiar. And more disturbingly her image wafted in faint memories of smoke and the clash of steel. For a moment Aphei's face was replaced by a mans. Amonsovn blinked and the image and noise was gone but she found her hand on Sagiaturiaris with the blade half out its scabbard. Everyone was looking at her. Amonsovn hurriedly thrush Sagiaturiaris back and held out her hand in greeting.

"Hello." Amonsovn said. Aphei stared at her hand and back at the blade hilt over her shoulder and blinked. Aphei then shook her hand but with a queer, slightly puzzled expression.

"Hello," Aphei said and then turned back to Mirrendi and began gabbling with them again. Amonsovn shrugged and went back to her room and locked the door. She cleared the rooms clutter, most of it was old junk of Mirrendi's and the twins, to the sides and began her sword practice. When she had finished she went out side to practice archery. Amonsovn enjoyed these exercises, they aloud her to forget everything else and just concentrate solely on the rhythmic moves and turns or the target. She spent longer on them this time, she was trying to banish the mans face from her mind. She set herself allsorts of targets from a falling leaf a long way off to the targets she had actually created on tree trunks. There were some wild birds flying over head, maybe she would catch some for their lunch. She swung her bow up and fired three arrows in quick succession. Three of the black dots fell out of the sky at her feet. She scooped them up, that would be plenty enough for all of them, maybe she would catch some rabbits for their dinner. She turned. Aphei was watching her.

"That was well done." Aphei said giving her an odd, calculating look. Amonsovn shrugged, guessing what the woman mean and at the same time striving to keep the mans image from her mind again. Amonsovn walked past her to the house. She was actually earning some 'money' from the butchers for the game she brought in. This 'money' had really puzzled her at first, people would just hand things over if you gave them these small bits of metal, but she was getting the idea. Amosovn dumped the birds on the kitchen counter.

"Lunch." She said. Mirrendi handed her some tools and Amonsovn went out side to skin them. Aphei came into the kitchen where Mirrendi was working.

"She's a strange one isn't she." Aphei said. Mirrendi handed her a large piece of dough. "She's amazing with that bow of hers and you said she makes her arrows herself."

"She made the bow and quiver herself as well." Mirrendi answered.

"You know, there are a lot of jobs for some one with her skills up at Athens."

"I though you said there was fierce competition and that's why our brother decided to take off exploring to Crete and got work there on the ships, _and _she's female I thought they only wanted men."

"There _is_ fierce competition but I've never seen someone with the skills Ara has, they won't give a damn if she's female or not when they see what she can do."

"She's that good, is she?"

"Definitely. You ask our brother, he said he may make it down here in time for the festival. This year it looks like it's going to be a blow out."

"I know, they've actually asked Ara if she will bring down a stag for them as well as Hebalt the butchers prize bull, I hope he makes it."

AN. Jst 2 kep u on ur toes, let me ask u this: Who is their brother? Yes 1madcat cn probly guess but I'm nt _telling_ _anybody_. Things liven up a bt whn he turns up.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter8

AN. WANT REVIEWS! GIMME REVIEWS!

Sory, dn't mind tht i jst go md smetms. Aywy, I'm also crvin angelgroove's nme in gold cos she review, unlike **_some_** hinthint, so thnks absolutely **_loads_** 2 u cos I wz jst going in2 dispair agin cos no reves still 4 chptrs 4,6,7. So goin mad cos of tht, it realy bugs me wen it sys 104 hit, 8 reviews. **_GRRRRRRR! _**

Day of the festival, Amonsovn had found a large stag and had also caught quite a lot of other game for it, it was all everyone was talking about – what they were going to wear, who they hoped to dance with, the twins were just excited about staying up to crazy hours in the morning. Amonsovn had then spent the rest of the day helping to put up decorations in the large stone hall and preparing the food. They ate a hurried lunch and Amonsovn went off again. When she came back into the house she found Mirrendi looking terribly excited and staggering around with huge bundles. Her brother had arrived, was all Amonsovn managed to gather from the flustered squalling and he had brought a horse, Amonsovn had spent quite a while at the stable place, helping the blacksmith with the horses and mucking out and such like though she had never ridden any, they weren't her horses and there was only a few anyway. Amonsovn went to help her with the bundles. Mirrendi then shooed her off to the stables.

Bemused Amonsovn did as she was told. When she reached the old wood building behind the barns she found some very hassled stable hands rushing around looking desperate. In the middle of all this was the cause of the trouble. It was a huge chestnut stallion. It was rearing and bucking and kicking and biting, Deidaileius or Dei was desperately trying to hold on to the rope head collar while trying not to get too badly hurt.

This was not happening.

Amonsovn rushed in to help. Dodging flying hooves and gnashing teeth she snatched the rope and pulled down with all her might praying it would not break. Surprised by the new weight the vicious creature dropped onto all fours and promptly tried to bite off the offending hands. Amonsovn grabbed the wooden muck shovel leaning against the near by wall and brought it round with a smack on the creatures flanks. It stopped its mad flailing and eyed her suspiciously, it was up against a challenge and Amonsovn meant to win it and he knew it and did not like it one little bit. It surreptitiously began to lift a hoof, preparing for a good kick.

_Thhuuwaaaakk! _

The muck shovel swung round again.

"Right," said Amonsovn. "Now are you going to work with me or will I have to drag you every step of the way to the stable for you, because I will." She said defiantly. The chestnut glared at her sulkily, it seemed in submission, for now. There still seemed to be a mean glint in its eyes but it went with her into the stable. She slid the door shut behind it carefully.

"There." She said. "And you'd better behave yourself because I'll be back." She turned. Behind her the whole stable yard was peering fearfully around the corner.

"Your not dead." Said Dei in a blunt, almost insulted way.

"That's five coppers you owe me now Dei." Said Aphei stepping around the corner too.

"But that brute is a _savage_!" Dei protested. "She should never have been able to do that!"

"Have you seen her hunt? Have you seen what she can do!" Answered Aphei, "Maybe you ought to teach her to ride and see what she can do with the Brute then!"

"Ride him? Now that she could never manage. I've worked with horses most of my life and no one could stay on that horse until it's been better trained and no trainer in there right mind will go _near_ that thing."

"Bet another five?"

"Done." Said Dei holding out his hand. They shook.

"We'd better get you riding then." Said Aphei turning to Amonsovn who was regarding the conversation uncomprehendingly. Aphei sighed.

"I'll explain." She told Dei.

Aphei spent a lot of the afternoon explaining the basics of horse riding to Amonsovn which was tricky due to her lack of vocabulary. Aphai then got out her small Arab and had Amonsovn tack it up and then take it all off again. Much later on Aphei finally aloud her to get on it. Amonsovn just sprang up from the ground, she could jump onto the Brutes back if she wanted to, although she would not do that when she did not know anything about horse riding as she did not have a death wish, so Aphei's grey mare was easy. Amonsovn then spent the remainder of the afternoon being bounced up and down at a trot. Amonsovn quickly got the hand of a walk but she was having difficulty finding the rhythm in trot, she could sense it there but she had not got the hang just yet.

Aphei was impressed, this would not take as long as she though. Amonsovn seemed to have a natural instinct to hang on with her knees, which was good, and she had already got the hang of steering with her legs. In a few days Aphei would have her cantering as if she had been doing it for years.

By the end of the afternoon a dirt streaked but happy Amonsovn returned with a pleased Aphei. Mirrendi promptly panicked and frog marched her off to the bath area while shouting reprimands across the house at Aphei, Amonsovn could tell what they were just by her tone of voice. Mirrendi dumped her unceremoniously in the tin bath and began pouring water over her head. Mirrendi made her close her eyes then dumped some strange substance in her hair and began rubbing it viciously into her scalp. A very pink and raw, yet sparklingly clean Amonsovn was finally ejected from the bath area with strict instructions not to do anything that might, _possibly_, get a speck of dirt on her again. Amonsovn felt like a small girl again as Mirrendi carefully managed to communicate to her the threat of being dumped back in the bath again.

Amonsovn went to her room and did some more sword exercises to pass the time. When Mirrendi had fixed the twins up she turfed Amonsovn out and attended to her clothes personally. Mirrendi then spent ages fussing about with her hair. It was normally scraped back into a long tail at the back but Mirrendi wanted to do something fancy. She tried a bun, she tried plats, she spent _ages _on absolutely everything. In the end she settled on a 'sprayed bun' which was a mixture of elegant coils in a lose bun type thing and curves and curls sprayed delicately around it. Finished. Mirrendi seemed quite pleased with the effect.

Mirrendi had then tried to make Amonsovn leave Sagiaturiaris behind. Amonsovn refused and would not listen to her protests. Amonsovn would not leave her last real link to her ancestral history behind, it stayed at arm's reach by her bed at night and was strapped to her back in the day. Mirrendi relented under Amonsovns cold gaze. There was something about her, Mirredni thought, that seemed cold, hard and angry. Normally she seemed a nice person but every now and again it would show through.

They went down into the hall. Feirthran was already there but Mirrendi sent him back to change his shirt as it had a tiny speck of mud on it. Aphei came down just before Feirthran returned. She was wearing a clingy, luscious, cream dress that accented her generous curves with her hair swept up to one side in a bronze clasp with a few elegant tendrils framing her face. Both Mirrendi and Aphei looked very nice.

"Our dear brother is 'taking his time'." Aphei announced. "Which really means is he was asleep and is trying to wake up. He says to go down to the hall and he'll see us there." Aphei pulled a face.

"Don't blame him." Muttered Feirthran coming down stairs with a dark blue-black shirt on, spotlessly clean of course.

"What was that?" said Mirrendi sharply.

"Ah, nothing!" Said Feirthran quickly. The twins sniggered. Feirthran glared at them good naturedly.

"Well, we'd better get going, we're a bit late already." Said Mirrendi pointedly and she swept out the door. Everyone followed with Feirthran pulling faces at her back.

Over in the stables the Brute was annoyed. He had no food left and all they had given him was a measly bit of old feed and some mangy old hay which was now sloshing pitifully around in the bottom of his immense stomach.

The village hall was a big affair and saved for special occasions only. There were beautiful drapes that had now been cleaned and repaired that had collected over the years and a long time ago everyone had banded together and paid for a gorgeous marble inlay on the floor with bright coulors and patterns all over it. Down the centre were two huge, long, wooden tables covered in some old embroidered cloths. One was smothered in foods and wines, the two master pieces of this table were the bull and Amonsovns stag. Eventually most would be gone from there and everyone would move to the second table which was smothered in desserts and more wines.

It was an enormous spread, everyone had contributed something, even the twins had spent a lot of their time in there working on the drapes and the tables. Everyone had also paid for an orchestra to come and play, although apparently they did this every year. Most people were just talking and nibbling on things, the dancing would not start till later and Amonsovn did not recognise any of the music, perhaps she could play her Piicsiliavn for them, the twins had begged her to and she had it with her in the small pockets she kept useful things in attached to the straps holding Sagiaturiaris. Amonsovn went over to a corner and sat down on the stone bench that jutted from the wall going all the way around the room. The drape she was sitting on was deep crimson and quite old with many repairs on its voluptuous fabric. She seemed to be attracting a lot of attention, everyone was staring at her.

There was now quite a lot of people in the room and the dancing was begining, it was getting rather crowded. Amonsovn wandered over to the table and gathered a few things to eat and then returned to her corner. She had never been good at socialising. The things she had know at home, she winced at the thought of home, had been spit roasted meat around an open fire followed by mad chaotic dances that got faster and more complicated as the night went on, blurred colours and wild music, intertwined rhythmic steps…

"Can you dance with that sword on you back?" The cheerful remark broke her bitter-sweet memories, never again would it be. She looked up. A young man around her age with short, scruffy, black hair had come over to her.

"I dance blades, me dance feet? Used to, don't know music here." She managed with a shrug. The man offered his hand,

"Try?" he asked, "It's not that hard."

She took it curiously and they went to the large space between the tables with the other dancers.

"My name's Jekl." He said.

"Amonsovn." she said, "Ara." She corrected.

She had been watching how the others danced and the orchestra was just starting up a new lively tune. The beat was strong and the rhythm good, she started to move with it. It was not so hard, nothing like the complex things they did at home. Used to. She winced again. The man looked at her quizzically.

"It nothing." She said quickly but he had seen the sadness there and was looking curious. She shook her head.

"Dance like this where you come from?" He asked.

"Came from. My home is no longer. We _did _nothing like this." She said gesturing with an arm.

"What was it like then." He asked.

"Oh, colour, drums. Everyone worked together in most. Com-ple-kated. Clap-ping, was fast and confusing. Loved it." She sighed. The pace was picking up now, she was quite enjoying it.

"Perhaps you could show us something." He asked.

"Maybe, not lot by self. Could try. Maybe teach you some."

"I'd like that."

"Could teach you blade dance too." She said mischievously with a grin.

"Maybe." He said uncertainly, "I wouldn't want to hurt you though."

"You hurt me? This blade run with men life blood, you should afraid I hurt you." She said with a harsh laugh. Jekl glanced at her. Who was she? Men life blood, she had killed men with that blade on her back, she was tall and muscular, her hair was bright gold, she would not wear dresses. Who on earth was she? Everyone was talking about her; he'd been the only one brave enough to talk to her.

He looked her over again, she was beautiful, he though. She should not be, but she was. She was too tall and scared and 'unfeminine' in general to be beautiful, but she was in her own way. Female beauty was not like her but although no one would admit it, all the other men were looking at him rather jealously. They were not supposed to find people like her attractive.

The Brute was chewing grumpily on the remains of his manger the rest of which was also now sloshing about in his unsatisfied stomach. Something bit him behind the ear. That was it he decided.

Amonsovn stared across the hall at the man entering. It was him. That face. The one she saw when she first saw Aphei. Their brother. The clash of metal filled her ears, the smell of burning flooded her senses, and the cries of the dieing innocents in amongst the flickering flames. The murderers of her people. And one stood before her, Sagiaturiaris was in her hands. Fury gripped her and red mist began to swirl across her vision.

The Brute let rip his pent up annoyance on his stable door. It did not last very long. The grumpy horse then charged out into the night.

Jekl watched in horror as Ara turned as if in a daze. He spoke to her but she did not seem to hear him. Her hand reached up to the sword on her back. The bluish blade flashed out. He leapt back, scared. A manic red glint had entered her eyes. She was heading straight for the doors. The people parted in front of her as she went. There was a man by the doors. He was staring at her in unsuppressed terror. Blades flashed.

The Brute was scavenging about for more food. In his stomach now was an old chair found in the yard used as a mounting block, a large amount of his stable, several bits of fencing and any other interesting things found lying around.

Jason stared. It was Her. The demon woman and her blade. _Her_, here! And she had seen him, she was coming for him! He grabbed his knife. The blade was flimsy compared to the great blade she wielded, with terrifying force and speed to. Desperately he dogged the thrumming blue blade. There was a large carving knife on the table. He made a grab for it, it would withstand the blows better than the knife. A searing pain ripped through his chest. He could not keep up with the blows reining down on him. There was more pain across his right arm and down his leg, he dropt the knife and fell to the floor, the demon and her blade filling his vision, the song of death thrumming in his ears.

_Oh, Gods! Fates, any god or Goddess who might be watching, spare me! I will never go back to that boat, I'll never do anything like that again! _

There was a loud crash. He blacked out.

Oh this was good, the Brute had found a nice grass verge. Even better, there seemed to be some type of vegetable patch past it. Some bird crowed loudly in the darkness. He jumped. Silhouetted against the sky was a strange, vaguely human shape flapping in the breeze. The Brute leapt out of his skin. Backwards. Into some doors. The wood unfortunately was not strong enough to support a large full grown draft cross stallion.

'_Crrrrrraaaaaassssssssssssssssssssshhh'_

"**Oh bggr." **

Thought the Brute irritably. He clambered up to his feet.

"**Oh _Bggr!_" **

He was nose to nose with the muck shovel woman. Worse she was looking mad and was holding something sharp and pointy and, he sniffed, yes. He could smell blood. There was blood on the pointy thing. Not good. His ears flopped guiltily. He lowered his nose.

"**Opps, sorry." **

He thought. The red light of madness faded from her eyes. And she stroked his nose briefly and led him back to his stable almost absent mindedly and she set about repairing his stable door.

_Satisfied that things would run as planned Selene leaned back, her turn was finished._

AN. Quite a long chapter this. Now, what do I want you to do? Yes, I want you to **REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter9

AN. Blipblipblipblipblip…..beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeeeeeeeeeeeep. Ah! Brain has been engaged, woz falling asleep there.

Amonsovn was sitting on a very high up branch of on of the taller trees in the wooded area with her back to the trunk. One leg was dangling down the side and the other was bent with her arm resting on it. She had been up there for several hours and had not moved once, but she was not asleep. Slowly Aphei began to struggle up the hard climb. How had Ara managed it so easily? Aphei sat on the branch facing her. It was a very tall tree. Aphei refused to look down. Ara was staring straight up into the sky with her piercing grey-gold eyes.

"Ara?" Aphei said tentatively. Ara's stare moved to her. Aphei flinched. It was as if Ara's eyes were slicing straight through her. "Ara, that man was our brother, me and Mirrendi's. He is now lying in a bed in a critical situation. You nearly killed him!" Aphei finished angrily.

"I wish I had when I had the chance." Ara's mouth twisted in contempt, and showed she had a better grasp of the language then most thought, "Aphei, that man is a murderer." Ara lent forward away from the trunk. Under her terrible gaze Aphei leaned away quivering inside, how could someone harbour so much hate for someone? "Do you know what your precious brother has done?" Ara was throwing the words at her like knifes, and they hurt like them. "Your brother killed all that was left of my family! They came, these strangers. We thought to welcome them and learn of were they came from, but in the darkness the cowards, out numbering us by at least ten to one attacked!" Ara shouted.

Then her voice went deadly low. "One by one I watched as my people were mercilessly slaughtered." Where had she learnt these words? Aphei thought "From ancient grandfathers to babies clutched in their dieing mothers arms. One by one, my people fell." Her voice began to rise again. "And there was nothing I could do to stop it! I fought. I fought with my soul as I had everything to lose!" Well she had had spiritual lectures from the travelling Priests. "And everything I lost except my own life!" Ara stopped and leaned further forward and whispered. "Think of the shame. I am alive yet not one other of my people remains. I was brought down by five arrows. Arrows." She spat. "They saw the damage I was coursing and their leader brought me down with arrows." Ara stopped and flopped back against the trunk. "And he was one of them, your brother. And you stopped me from avenging my people." Aphei stared. It was the most Ara had ever said, most had been monosyllabic or just movements of the head. She was going to get the truth from Jason, invalid or not. Quietly she climbed back down leaving Ara exactly as she had been before, staring up at the sky.

Aphei returned to Ara's tree as the sun was setting and left a basket of food wedged in a branch at her shoulder height. She had been shocked and terrified by Jason's confession but she understood him now. She would speak to Ara tomorrow if she still had not come done.

Later in the darkness Amonsovn came down and took a few things back up to eat. The tree was a relatively easy climb compared to ones she had done at home. Home. That word again. Would she ever be able to forget? Would she ever be free of the guilt? Many people say that time heals wounds of the heart but all it had done for her was dull the pain slightly but now it was rent open again and she needed to be alone till it was closed again even if the pain is no less. She had been prepared to bite Aphei's head off back then, how would she manage if she went back amongst the others now? Aphei's face looked so like her brothers. Amonson shuddered and tried to shut out the memories coming back to her.

The next day Aphei climbed back up the tree with difficulty as the bark was slippery with dew. At the top she found Ara in the same position as when she had left staring straight up at the brightening sky. Aphei sat on the branch opposite her.

"Ara." Again the piecing gaze swept down to her face. "I've been speaking with Jason. He told me everything. He says he will never be going back to that boat again. He says he sent a prayer to the Gods that He would never do anything like that again if they let him live when you were fighting him, and he intends to do so. Please, he is just an ignorant boy really, our younger brother. Forgive him please."

Ara stared at her. "I can never forgive the deaths of my people," she said slowly and Aphei winced, "but perhaps I can try to forget his part in it. I will avenge my people," she said harshly, "but not by killing him. I will try to tolerate him at best. I guess I understand in a way but I scorn him for his weakness in not pulling back from what they must have told him to do."

"Will you come down?" Aphei asked tentatively. "You've been up here for hours and all night. Remember, I have a bet with Dei." Aphei might have been mistaken but she thought she saw Ara smile. Yes, she _was _smiling.

"See if I can ride the Brute." Ara almost laughed remembering Dei's expression when she had got the Brute into his stable .You know, we will need to find him an actual name. He can't be the Brute forever."

"You sure? He deserves it. It was a cheat way of paying Jason, apparently his breeding makes him worth his weight in gold as you don't get horses like him from these parts, but the original owners were probably glad to get rid of him, they were probably willing to pay _you_ just to take him away." Now both of them were smiling.

"I'll come down." Said Ara. Ara swung herself under the branch in a quick lithe movement and sort of, shifted down the tree. From the bottom Ara called up,

"Come on old lady Aphei! Don't tell me you're afraid of heights!" Aphei leaned over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out.

"I'll come down in my own time." She said primly. They both stared at each other struggling to keep their faces straight. It did not last long. Aphei half fell the rest of the way down doubled up with laughter. Ara grabbed her as she almost fell down on the ground.

"Come on granny Aphei. You've got a bet to win." Said Ara playfully bursting with laughter.

"But first you'd better change, those are still the clothes you wore last night." Aphei said, serious now. Ara looked down at herself. The clingy red shirt and the black trousers had several large red-brown stains on them. Ara pulled a face.

"I guess I'd better."

Mirrendi was in the kitchen when Amonsovn came in. Her clothes were badly blood stained and her swords sheath had more of the curious blotches on its battered leather, she had wondered what they were. Aphei came over to her as Amonsovn went up the stairs.

"She seems to have calmed down somewhat," Aphei began, "but you can't blame her, I told you her story. She said she could not forgive the deaths of her people but perhaps she could forget that Jason was one of them. She seemed sincere but we'd better keep her away from Jason for now, I don't know what his presence might trigger off again."

"I know," answered Mirrendi, "but so many people saw what she did. The butcher came round and told me he did not want any more kills from 'that manic'. Everyone's afraid of her. I think she'd better leave soon." Aphei nodded. She had thought so too.

"I'll take her with me," Aphei decided "that is, if she agrees to. She'll have no problem finding work and I'll help her in the city, I know my way around."

"It's probably for the best." Agreed Mirrendi.

Ara rode with determination. She was getting the hang of trot and had done some cantering and jumps. Cantering was hard but after many hours, some times with Aphei's Arab and sometimes with Dei's Arab-cross stallion, Dann (he could be quite vicious at times but Amonsovn coped well) Aphei judged her good enough to get on the Brute.

Amonsovn went to his stable. She opened the door. The Brute regarded her warily. He knew her, she was the muck shovel girl with the nasty pointy thing and the faint undertone smell of that nasty red stuff. She was danger. She was taking him out of his stable with the horrid rope thing. He thought about biting her but decided against it. Oh, maybe she was going to let him out in a field to eat some grass. He always thought through his stomach which was always hungry. Amonsovn lead him out onto the grass. Impatient, the Brute tried to take a mouthful of the delicious looking green grass. He earned a hard pull around his nose when the rope thing was yanked up sharply. The Brute flattened his ears. Amonsovn raised a threatening hand. The Brute relax though was still grumbling to himself and eying the grass.

Then she took him through a gate into a sanded area. Uhoh, he had been in on of these before. He jumped. Amonsovn had just lowered on of _those_ things onto his back. Oh no! Now she was shoving a cold metal bar into his mouth. He fought against her, unsuccessfully. Oh Gods. Amonsovn sprang lightly onto the Brutes back. The Brute went mad. He started bucking and kicking, he swung his head round to bite but it was pulled back. Hooves flailing he charged around the sanded area.

Then he had an idea. He charged along the length of the area at full gallop. The reins were pulling at his mouth hard but he was pulling back. She thought he was going to crash. Great muscles bunched beneath the Brutes sleek chestnut coat. He leapt. The fence was tall, very tall. It was heading on two meters, but the brute was determined. He was not going to be ridden, ever by the scary muck shovel girl. His front legs lifted clear, he breathed in, his chest and precious stomach housing his brain were clear just though he felt the slight brush of the wood almost imperceptibly with his hair. His back hooves just clipped the top. There was soft turf on the other side at least. He braced for the impact. He stumbled, deliberately accenting the throwing forwards movement.

'**_Dam!'_**

All that trouble and she had not even fallen off, in fact she seemed totally unfazed. He did not think that was fair. Well, they have to see about that. The Brute leapt off again in amongst the trees. Deliberately charging under low branches, bucking over large logs. He even splashed across a small stream and tried to dump her in the water. Finally, panting, sides heaving and lathered in sweat he stopped.

Gently she nudged his sides with her feet. He gave a feeble buck and tried to lean around to bit her and was gobbed in the mouth for his pains. Gently she steered him around and back to the sand area. Aphei opened the gate again and shut it firmly behind them. Then they began to walk around the edge slowly. Then they did a trot. Every now and again Amonsovn had to remind him to mind his manners. They even did a bit of canter and some small jumps. The Brute liked those, they were fun. He decided it was more fun doing as he was told for the new leader, muck shovel girl, but he still was not going to do it for anyone else.

Eventually Amonsovn dismounted and put him back in his stable with some nice feed that the Brute dealt with swiftly. Amonsovn was hot, dirty but happy again. Aphei was wearing a very smug expression and had and extra 10 coppers in her purse, they had gone for all or nothing. Aphei had explained to her about the jobs she could get in the capital, Athens, were Aphei worked. That was what she was going to do, Amosovn decided, she could get away from the villagers who were now afraid of her and also it might bring her closer to the person who had ordered her peoples massacre. They would leave as soon as Jason was well so they could travel together, Aphei was worried about being late back from her family time leave from her work and she seemed eager to get back too. Aphei had been very elusive and vague about what exactly she did. Aphei had also said that Jason was wiling to give her the Brute. Amonsovn was now very happy.

Amonsovn bid goodbye to Mirendi, Feirthran and the twins. Maybe she could come back and visit sometime. Pointedly ignoring the tall, but nonetheless not as tall as her, man with the same dark eyes and hair as Mirrendi and Aphei and with the same oval face and delicate nose as Aphei. Amonsovn thought the features looked better on Aphei but Jason was not bad look wise. The three of them saddled their horses. The Brute gave her a bleary eyed look when they came in wondering what they were doing at that hour in the morning but his stomach took over when she provided breakfast for him. They set off.

Much later on when Jason was beginning to complain of saddle sores and Amonsovn's patience was near breaking point she noticed something. She stopped suddenly.

"Aphei?" She called, "Aphei, I think…" An arrow swished over and thudded in the middle of the path.

AN. Slight cliffy here 4 u, yes now I wnt u 2 tk prt in sme rocket science, I wnt u 2 click on the submit review button and tll me wat u think, yes, sooo difficult!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter10

"Yup." Said Amnsovn grimy. "I thought so." Two burly men stepped into the road ahead and three came out from behind. One of the ones in front of them stepped forward.

"Well hello gentile ladies." He said with a wide grin bordering on a leer as if he meant more than he said. "And good day to your escort." He nodded towards Jason. "Well, I wonder what a pair like you are doing out here with only one guard. And one so young and inexperience too!" He said in mock shock. "Splendid!" He said as if receiving unexpected guests at a party he had not thought anyone would attend. "Well, that is splendid for us. Rather unfortunate for you." He leered again.

"I have two guards actually." Said Aphei angrily. "I am his majesty the king Ageus's first adviser." The mans eyes widened

"The king's first adviser! I've heard of you! The kings first concubine more like! That's the only way a woman could get so high, they only have one real use." The man retorted with a sneer, "And who's the foreigner, doesn't speak much does she. I'm betting she's some foreign princess. Her hair, eyes and horse are a bit of a give away. Those horses are supposed to be untameable even for the northerners who own them so she's got to be someone important. I also bet those bags of yours are full of foreign gold. I bet we could get a good ransom for you two too! Anyway," he said suspiciously, "where's the second guard you mentioned?" Amonsovn drew Sagiaturiaris.

"I'm right here." She said poisonously. The leader flinched.

"A warrior maiden!" He exclaimed, "I've heard of them too! Well how strong can a woman be?" He snorted incredulously, "At them boys, they don't look like surrender."

"Aphei!" Amonsovn shouted leaping from the Brute, she did not believe in unfair fighting even though logic did not exactly back this as there were five big men against her, Aphei with her small knife and an unseasoned youth, the others also dismounted, though only to follow her example, "You and Jason take two of the ones behind us, I'll deal with the rest." The leader stood back with a smug expression, his right hand man foolishly dropped his bow and charged at Amosovn, he was not a bad swords man though Amonsovn had no problem with him until another of the men stepped up. Amonsovn had to balance the two, holding one off and playing weak while wearing down the other.

The right hand man was beginning to tire and second was growing cocky with her supposed weakness. There, her sword changed direction in the blink of an eye and swept through the second mans guard bringing him down. Amonsovn then stepped up the pace with the already tiered first man. She lunged and struck at his chest, he dodged though Sagiaturiaris gashed his side. He then aimed a strike at her head, she leapt but in his follow through he cut along her right arm. Annoyed with herself Amonsovn made an impossibly quick recovery and leapt at him, Sagiaturiaris passed through his chest. She pulled free from the corps.

Aphei and Jason were battling separately with the other two men. They were quite evenly matched, though Jason was faltering a bit, Aphei was doing splendidly with her knife against the large sword her opponent had. Amosovn ducked just in time at the leaders blade whistled over her head.

Stupid, she chided herself, very stupid letting yourself forget about him. He swung at her and she parried catching his blade and quickly sliding hers along so the hilts were locked together, the leaders eyes widened and wisely he ducked and rolled away, he would have had to give way under her superior strength if he had not done so. Tentatively he circled her, she was much stronger than he thought.

The muscles on his torso gave him away and Amonsovn blocked his sword again easily and returned with a vicious strike of her own which he only just blocked in time. Slyly he swiped out with his boot trying to trip her up, she feigned falling but rolled under his following attack with his sword and she brought her blade around deep into his side as she rose to her feet. The leader was dead.

Amonsovn looked around, Aphei had nearly run her opponent ragged with her small knife and he was covered with numerous cuts, Aphei was dodging all his lumbering blows neatly and then nimbly swiping at him underhand, but Jason was in trouble. He was backed up against a tree and the man was not letting him escape, it did not look good. The attacking man then suddenly curved his blade around Jason's and, catching it by the hilt, sent it flying. Amonsovn's hand snaked out and twisted the blades movement around as it was falling beside her. The blade swept back into the man's back. It went straight thought him and cut Jasons arm with deadly accuracy, making a trickle of blood slither down his wrist. Amonsovn walked over.

"How I wish I could have let that go right through you too," Amonsovn hissed at him in contempt, "instead of saving your life, but I would not betray Aphei's trust. I will spare you although you did not spare my people and therefore no one can say I am alike to such a coward and poor swordsman as you." Amonsovn spun away and remounted the Brute who was looking peeved that he had been left out of the action. He attempted to bite Amonsovn's leg to make up for it, she swatted his nose away firmly. They set off down the trail again.

Amonsovn was amazed although she tried not to show it, the city was vast! She had never seen anything bigger than the little village Mirrendi lived in, she thought _that_ had been big. So many people and horses and carriages, even some really posh ones that must have belonged to some of the nobility. Aphei then took Jason and her to a small gate in the great wall that encircled the inner city the nobles lived in surrounding the Acropolis _(The Acropolis was the central, defensively oriented district in Ancient Greek cities. Located at the highest point and containing the chief municipal and religious buildings) _The two guards on duty there knew Aphei it seemed and she told them she had new 'recruits' but they needed to be brought before the king and explained first, they were special situations according to her. They let her pass. Aphei then went to the largest, grandest building and entered by a small side door into a shabby back room with a hassled clerk sitting behind a whole mountain range of paperwork, Amonsovn wondered if they should name it, maybe 'the paper piles'. When they came in the clerks small face peeped over the shortest pile which seemed to be taller than him.

"Aphei!" The clerk squeaked rushing around to them, this took awhile, and he dislodged several pieces which created the world's first minature 'paperslide' every single one of which he carefully put back in exactly the same place. "Finally!" The clerk exclaimed again, "The king has been getting most impatient, he says he has a most terribly important case for you." Then the clerk spotted Amonsovn and Jason, "Who are they?" He demanded suspiciously.

"They're new recruits with special situations." Aphei said elusively.

"Special situations!" The clerk said incredulously, "One's no more than a boy with hardy a hair on his chin and the other's a strange foreigner _and_ a **_woman_** for crying out loud! I'll give you special situations!" The clerk planted his hands on his hips.

"Well, I think the king should let her have a try and I need to put both their cases to the king." Aphei said defensively.

"Alright." The clerk said dubiously. "He's up in his chambers, he won't mind the interruption since it's you, finally, but those two should stay here." Aphei nodded and went through the door at the back. Amonsovn caught a glimpse of colour before the door banged shut again.

A little while later Aphei came back looking slightly flustered.

"Yes," said Aphei giving the clerk a bit of paper with their funny squigglings on it, "the king says you can and see the commander, he'll probably pass you over to the barracks master who will 'test your metal' with the commander watching." Aphei gave a flustered smile, "That's good, but I can't see you two over there as I'm terribly busy. I can't even go away for a few days with out cases piling up!" She complained, "Wyston," she turned to the clerk, "will you see them over to the military area please?" Wyston sighed and nodded looking mournfully at his pet paper mountains.

"Oh thank you so much." Aphei said and disappeared out the door again dislodging several more 'paperslides' as she left. The clerk scuttled round delicately replacing all his beloved bits of parchment.

"Alright," he said when he had finished, "follow me." With a last look of longing he whisked out the door leaving his paper behind. Amonsovn and Jason followed him. The little clerk scuttled across the ground with his legs whirring in circles, eager to get back to his documents. The clerk led them to a large selection of ratty mostly wooden buildings all very long. They were taken into one of these. The clerk went to the first door and rapped sharply on it with his knuckles. A loud booming voice shouted from within,

"Go away! It's supposed to be my day off, second commander Leaftea is in charge." The clerk coughed politely

"It is Document clerk Wyston, Commander Brousk, with two 'special situation' recruits." Wyston answered, polite as ever. There was aloud grunt and some bangs and a large head with an impressive full beard and moustache under an impressive nose appeared round the door. He glared at the clerk sourly.

"Just my luck." He grumbled as the rest of him was taken around the door, he was wearing a red tunic over his bulging muscles with a gold belt showing that he was the overall commander. He was a big man but still not as tall as Amonsovn, Why did she always seem to be taller than everybody? Amonsovn thought. Wyston wordlessly handed him the bit of paper Aphei had given him. Commander Brousk glared at it to and then interrupted his own grumblings by bellowing down the corridor in his enormous voice,

"CCRRRRRAAAAAAAAFFFFFTTTTTTEEEEEEENNNNNNN! Craften, get your lazy arse over here!"

A fat, nasty looking man wearing a brown tunic with a gold belt came rushing down the corridor trying to see it his ears were still working, Amonsovn was wondering the same thing, she noticed that Wyston had diplomatically found two nasty itches in both ears just in time to save them from probable damage.

"I take it I'm not needed anymore." Wyston said hurriedly and scuttled out, back to his paper pile mountains.

"Couple of 'special situation' recruits," Commander Brousk rumbled, "It says that for pot-icky-al reasons it would be wiz, no sorry, wise to include them in our racks, no sorry, ranks. It says he under-stands if they are re-ect-ed but if we could find a spase, no sorry, space for them it would be very much ob-vise-ed. Whatever that mean." Brousk finished blundering through the writing.

"It means," Craftn explained, "that we should try and find a space for them even if their not that good."

"Oh." Said Brousk. "Well why didn't he just say so?" He grumbled and stomped off towards the door at the other end of the corridor. They followed at Barracks master Craftens gesture. The door led outside into a large open area surrounded by the same type of buildings as she had seen from the outside. There were large groups and small groups all doing different things and there were many different uniforms. Sometimes groups would swap over or another group of people would come out of the buildings and another would go off, the grounds were flat but there was a steep grass bank between the grounds and the buildings so you had a good view. Brousk stomped down the slope into the nearest vacant small court. In several of these there were pairs of people fencing with each other, fencing courts. They went in. Brousk turned and glared at them. He grunted.

"Where's the other recruit? Run away did he?" Brousk demanded. Amonsovn realised that he thought she was just tagging along with Jason.

"It's me." She said stepping forward. Brousk stared.

"You?" He said incredulously. He pulled the bit of paper back out of his belt. She watched his lips move as he read. His eyes widened at a word.

"Alright." He said dubiously. He stomped off to a small well kept wooden building on the same level as the grounds. He came back out with two blunt practise blades. He tossed one at Jason, who almost dropped it, and the other at barracks master Craften. Craften caught his easily.

"Right boy," Said Brousk, "Since you already know some of the art of sword fighting you can just show me what you can do against old fatty Craften here, he's quicker than he looks though, so don't get cocky."

Jason and Craften circled each other. Jason then made a quick strike at him, Craften parried easily and followed with an attack of his own. Jason parried then dodged and just managed to avoid getting hit. Jason then sprang and managed just to catch Craften on the arm. The fight did not last long but Jason did not do badly even if he did finish on the floor with Craftens practise blade at his throat. Craften smugly helped Jason to his feet. They turned to Brousk.

"Huh, maybe we can do something with him. Put him in the novice barracks and maybe he'll manage." Brousk gestured. "While you're taking him there I'll finish the girl." Brousk tossed her Jason's practise sword and took Craften's. "Can you use that blade on your back?" He asked sceptically. "You've got height to your advantage though."

"I can fight well enough, but not enough." She sighed and looked vacant for a moment than her attention snapped back to him. "Let's get this over with." Brousk circled her. They both circled for a while.

_Good, at least she has plenty of patience_ Brousk thought.

Amonsovn feinted to her left, Brousk moved to block the strike when her blade changed direction, not one but twice. He could deal with the first change but not the second and she fetched him a blow to his side. Amonsovn studied his face, he was at last beginning to take her seriously, good. Brousk lashed out at her chest, she dropped into a roll and came up behind him throwing a blow to his back which, catching him off balance, knocked him over. She spun and put her sword point to his throat.

"Well I'll be damed!" Brousk exclaimed. She held out her hand and pulled him to his feet. Brousk turned to see Craften staring in open disbelief. Brousk's face split in a broad grin. "Look at this Craften, Chief Commander beaten by a girl! She's going to train with the blade dancers, she'll make the elite king's body guard in no time!" Brousk clapped her across the back making her stumble slightly. Craften, forgetting to shut his mouth, took her off to one of the buildings.

AN. Plez rev? It wuld mk my day!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter11

AN. I like 2 put thnkus 2 peple who've reved but I've gut nothing 2 put here 2day. Depressing.

Aphei gulped. She would do anything for her king, not that the rumours about her being his mistress were true they were just a good cover that she almost encouraged to hide what she really was, but she was frightened of what she would probably end up having to do. The king was good to her but in her position she had to put herself out on a limb for him, not one of her network or her team this time. It would have to be her. Maybe she could find another way. She hoped. Oh, but what if she had to do it? What if it went too far? Oh Gods and Goddesses she was scared.

Amonsovn was in the practise courts, the muscles in her body remembering the familiar moves and patterns in the exercises, some with her blade, some without, some with a knife and some with a staff. She had come along way in the single week. The Brute was kept at the stables and she still looked after him as no one else could or would, although it was hard to find time to ride if she found it, he was doing ok but horses were not used very much in training. She still had to find a proper name for him.

They had given her the black tunic of a blade dancer and the brown novice belt and she had been given a separate room, a bit of a luxury for a novice, but since she was a girl they thought it best. The first few days she had got into a few scraps with some of them who thought she did not belong here but now all the novices respected her skills and strength.

She was going to become a green belt soon. She had worked extra hard and most of the novices who started hardly knew one end of a blade from the next. She was doing fine in the theory studies and had night time sessions to help her reading and writing. She was a special situation alright.

Most novices, brown belt, took a year to move up to a working soldier, green belt, and most stayed there though a few moved up to unit leader, blue belt, and then there were two second commands, silver belt, and then there was one overall commander of what ever colour they were which was a gold belt.

The only one who wore the red tunic and gold belt was Brousk as he was the top man. Some novices chose to become tactic and theory studiers who never saw any real action unless absolutely necessary and gave some lessons to the students or went off researching things which was a brown tunic. Some novices chose to simply become fighting soldiers which was a green tunic. A small few were trained in stealth and such like which was a blue tunic although the army did not need that many.

Last of all there was the elite force which was a black tunic, at least one hand picked unit was the kings personal body guard and was with him at all waking hours and at least one other stood guard at night. They were the best of the best. And Amonsovn in a week was ready to take the green belt exam for the black elites. There would be a short theory paper but that was not terribly important as they would probably never have to make any major tactical decisions themselves. Then there would be a series of tests from obstacles courses to duels. Then they had to survive three days in a great forest with no map or anything except their chosen weapon and a small knife, one blanket and a change of cloths. She had done that before and it had been a bit longer than three days.

She would just have to keep working all daylight hours and several of the night ones too and she would be alright, there was no time for friends, she was going to survive this. Many novices dropped out and very few made it to green belt and there were only about five units of blade dancers and those units tended to be very small, between five and ten green belts and a blue belt for each one with the gold and silvers going with which ever was doing the most dangerous or difficult job. She was determined to make it as high as she could.

Jason was doing alright, he had caught up with all the other brown belts no problem and had been selected for the blue stealths, beginning his noviceship again. He was quite pleased with himself. He saw Ara around the grounds sometime and he had heard plenty about her, she was simply amazing he though; the first black elite novice to go for green belt after a single week. He hoped she make it, the black elite tests were supposed to be the hardest to pass, some never came back from the forest. There were whispers that the black elite gold belt Pirrishane sent allsorts of hazards at them on purpose. And Aphei had sent him a message saying she was coming on a brief family visit when he had finished his day. He was happy.

When he returned to his space in the barracks he found Aphei waiting outside the door. Gods she was white as a sheet, what had come over her? He wondered. It was probably a new assignment, but she had done really difficult ones before, what could be worse than that thing she did last year? But then again, he had never seen her looking so scared.

"Jason." She said. "I need to talk to you." She briefly explained to him her new assignment. "…and there's only two ways I can do it!" She said on the verge of tears. "I'll just have to try both, oh Gods, Goddesses and all things holy!" Jason put his arm around her.

"Tell you what," He said thinking hard, "Ara is going to try for her black elite green belt soon. Why don't you start building up to it and then get Ara to come with you, hidden obviously, and if it goes too far she can stop it for you."

"Ara's going to take her black elite green belt soon?" Aphei asked, Jason nodded. "Well I guess that would help, if she passes, for the first part. But what about the next bit? What am I going to do?"

"We'll think of something." Jason assured her. "We will."

The theory test went alright, Amonsovn thought she had done well enough and the trial in the grounds had gone well as well. There was one novice who had failed that part had and had given up, there was only five of them now. The forest part of the test was next, the hardest part apparently.

Aphei knew what she had to do. She was going to accept the kings invitation to attend the court banquet tonight. She picked out a black sleeveless chest band and very short skirt and put them on. She then found a light gauzy dress that was virtually see through and put it over the top. It worked well. In the right lighting in might as well not be there and she was left wearing what would seem skimpy black underwear, but when she wanted it would be completely opaque and she would be wearing a pale blue dress. Good. No one would realise it was see through unless she wanted them to or was careless and she was not going to let that happen. Aphei then swept her hair up in her favourite bronze clasp.

Arriving ever so slightly late so everyone would see her entrance Aphei swept in apologising profusely to the king that she was late the first time she attended court. Aphei then slipped into the space beside a tall man with short black hair and a deep tan to match her own. She knew who he was, Ageus had told her so.

She smiled briefly and rather coolly at him and then turned to the man on her right side and began to talk with him completely ignoring the man she knew, but catching the light for a moment exposing a bare side and the curve of her chest band. The man's eye drank it in.

She gave the stranger on her right a dazzling smile still ignoring the other man who was starting to look annoyed. The other she was talking to was a court noble and she discovered quite easily, not married. You wish she thought. For the entire meal she hardly said any thing to the man Ageus had told her about. King Ageus was giving her slightly worried looks but she knew what she was doing, she hoped.

Then the dancing started. Aphei watched at first then when it looked like the man was going to ask her to dance King Ageus himself asked her and she danced once with him telling him what was happening. The other man was looking put out. Aphei then danced another with the supposedly unmarried courtier who was getting a bit drunk. Then she let the man approach.

"Would you allow me this dance pretty one?" He asked with a smile. Aphei sighed looking a bit bored deliberately.

"What's you name?" She asked although she already knew what it was.

"Fiscaan Bandrrok my lovely, what is yours?" He asked trying to flatter her.

"Aphei Gistagan." She answered as if it was unimportant with another little sigh. Gistagan was Mirrendi's maiden name.

"What a beautiful name," Fiscann flashed her a smile, "Although it does not do the bearer justice, you are far more beautiful than any name that could be found." Aphei gave him a slightly more interested smile. Encouraged, he asked again.

"Do let me have this dance with you, for I wish to dance with no other." Aphei noticed there did seem to be sincerity in his compliments, her little display at the start of dinner was probably the reason.

"Oh alright." She acquiesced and gave him her hand. He was quite a good dancer she thought as he whirled her through the paces.

"You dance wonderfully." He said with a strange smile pulling her in against his chest. She smiled and twirled out again trying not to show how nervous she was.

"You're quite good too." She said. Then she shifted and for a moment he caught another glimpse of her curvaceous chest band. Then the dance finished.

They danced quite a few of them and when she complained of tiered feet he suggested they went for a walk in the rose garden. She complied, surprised in spite of herself. There was a large moon hanging over the walls and there was nobody else there except them, they were all dancing in the king's hall. He sat her down on a stone bench in a little alcove. Lulled by the sweet scents she relaxed. Fiscaan then gently took her shoes off and began to massage her feet, they were quite tiered.

She leaned back shutting her eyes and the moon light filtering into the alcove caught her face and her dress seemed to disappear. Fiscaan put his arm around her shoulders Aphei felt so tiered, it had been a long day. Then Fiscaan pulled her into his arms against his chest, she could feel his breath over her and he kissed her. For a moment Aphei went into shock then she leapt back out of his arms away from the passionate kiss, frightened.

"Oh Gods!" She said. This was going too far.

"I'm sorry I…" Fiscaan began but she was gone. He picked up the delicate shoes on the path in front of him. He cursed himself, she was so lovely and he had scared her away the first time he met her he had never had trouble with women before.

Amonsovn sat in her little clearing beside a tiny fire which she had banked down for the night. They had been blindfolded and completely disorientated. None of them had any idea where they were or where each other were and they were completely alone, she could not even take the Brute with her.

Amonsovn had followed the signs she had taught herself as a very young girl and the things she had learned from the blue stealth's to find a small fresh water stream and had caught a rabbit with a hand made snare which had made a very nice meal. They would send some sort of challenge at her she was sure, it could not be as easy as this for three days. She just wished she knew what it was going to be and when, then she could be better prepared. Amonsovn sighed and dozed off, she needed to conserve her strength for when the time came.

A little while later she awoke to strange noises. A horrible snuffling noise was coming from behind her. They had decided to test her first then. Slowly she began to open her eyes. A large black thing was coming around her. There was a sudden excruciating pain in her leg. It had latched on with cruel ravaging teeth and claws to her right leg.

She snatched Sagiaturiaris, her chosen weapon, soundlessly from over her shoulder and swung it down to the creature. It bounced off harmlessly jarring her arm badly. It bit in deeper. Desperate she tried to prize it off her. She could not get a grip on the hard smooth black armour it seemed to have and there more she tried the deeper the thing dug, gouging at her flesh.

She tried to stand, stumbled and fell. She was loosing too much blood. There was only one thing she could do. She gritted her teeth against the terrible pain; she could feel its fangs and claws digging deep into her leg guzzling away with horrible slurping and gnashing noises and at each the pain increased. She lifted Sagiaturiaris and swung down at her leg just above the knee where the creature was attached to her. She was going to cut her own leg off to be rid of it.

AN. Right I know the colrs thing nere the begning is confusing bt I dn't wnt 2 bore u so here's a quick sumry. Ther r 4 colr units whch is the same as the colr tunic thy wear, brwn, gren, blue and black. Brwns study boring stuff, gren r jst regular soldiers, blue do stealth stuff and black is the elite prt that is srt of the best. The belts they wear show their rank, brown is a novice, green is standrd, blue is a unit commndr, silver is second in commnd and gold is the boss. Brousk is the boss of all the units as his tunic is red. Hpe u undrstnd nw if u ddn't be4. oh and 2 keep u on ur toes Aphei is nt jst the Kgs 1st adviser and Fiscaan is not who he sems evn if the fct tht he liks Aphei is genuine.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter12

AN. Ths chptr is a bt werd so plez tll me wht u thnk.

Aphei was scared. The more she thought about it the more she tried to deny it. Fiscaan was were she wanted him, why was she not happy? Amonsovn was in the forest for her green belt, she would be out in two more days, if she was going to come out, and Aphei would then have protection and someone to help her if something like that happened again. She should be happy, but then again she could not help thinking about the other thing she might have to do.

Amonsovn did not scream but anyone else would have done, the pain was so terrible. Then suddenly it was all gone. She opened her eyes, surprised. She stared. Her leg was still there, attached to her body. Her trouser leg was soaked with her blood but there was no mark of where the creature had been. Then she heard screaming.

'_Gods'_ she thought, '_as if I don't already have enough on my plate as it is.'_

She headed towards the sound of the scream. There seemed to be some sort of echo to it, it always seemed to come from a slightly different place than the last. Mostly it was just terrible cries like the ones that had threatened to rip through her when that creature had attached itself to her leg. If it really had that is, well the blood was there and the pain had been real enough. Every now and again she heard words though, mostly cries for help and sometimes screams for the pain to stop.

Amonsovn stumbled and fell. She looked up. She had fallen over a collection of sharp, jagged rocks surrounded a dark cave mouth. The horrible, echoing screams were reverberating from there. She drew Sagiaturiaris and began to advance slowly into the dark, ignoring the slow drip her of hot, sticky blood down her leg and from the numerous small cuts she was gaining. It was _very_ dark but she could make out the jagged cave protrusions from the floor and ceiling of the tunnel like cave. The tunnel was twisting and turning but an eerie green glow seemed to be coming from the other end. It certainly was not daylight.

Amonsovn turned another sharp bend and stepped out into a huge cavern of black rock. It was filled by an enormous lake. She could not tell the source of the green glow but it was thrown around the cave in shards and mists. In the centre of the lake there was a tiny island. On it there seemed to be a huge, hulking, black thing, barley visible in the green light and it was bending over something that was making the screams.

She looked down at the bottomless waters between her and the island. She did not like to think what might be at the bottom of that. She stepped into the shallow edge. The ripples spread out from where she had disturbed the glassy smooth surface. She watched them flow onwards.

'_Wait a minute,'_ she thought, _'that's not right.'_

Some of the glinting green ripples were undulating back towards her. Fast. She leapt back from the water just in time as something burst forth where she had been standing a moment ago. She caught a brief glimpse of ferocious fangs, then it slipped back below the surface. The ripples quickly dispersed and there was no sign of the previous disturbance.

'_Gods and Goddesses, what next!' _Amonsovn thought in astonishment. It was sort of unreal the way these things with teeth kept coming at her. She could see why this was said to be the hardest part of the test. Gishkain the blue stealth gold belt was also said to mark this part of the test. Well she certainly did not want to leave that pitiful thing, what ever it was, on the island with that other thing. Even if it did defeat the thing it would be trapped.

Amonsovn began to walk around the narrow strip between the cave wall and the lake waters. There seemed to be an old, dilapidated boat half in half out of the lake. She went over to it and looked around suspiciously. It seemed a little too convenient. Oh well, she could not see any other to the island besides swimming and she was not about to do that.

Amonsovn gently pushed the boat out into the lake, she had practised this with her old canoe for fishing, and it created no ripples. It still appeared to float alright. Carefully she climbed in and found an old oar at the bottom of the craft. Very convenient. She shrugged and silently slipped the oar into the water and gently propelled herself away from the shore, from safety.

The boat was old and rickety. Gently she pushed against the waters on the other side of the craft. There was a faint cracking noise. She watched in dismay as two, solitary ripples of doom spread away from the side. The two suddenly increased and turned, straight as an arrow back at her. She drew Sagiaturiaris and swung as the ripples burst before her. There was a spray of blood. She had hit something, but no ordinary something, the blood that was now mixing with her own was black, green-black. A single, large, hooked tooth had fallen at her feet. She bent to touch it but then drew her hand back in pain and watched as the tips of her fingers bled, glowing green.

There was a sudden, ear-splitting thud which echoed out through the momentary stillness. The whole boat shivered and cracked. Black water was flooding into a great rent across the bottom of the boat. There was another thud followed quickly by another, there seemed to be more than one of the creatures. As she saw something flash below the boat she thrust Sagiaturiaris through the gap in the bottom. There was a horrible shriek from below. Blood spurted.

'_That's also very odd.'_

She thought. It was more a shade of purple than green. Thoughtfully she pulled the remainder of her shirt off leaving her in her chest band, soaked in blood, with Sagiaturiaris on her back. She rapped the tattered cloth around her hand and picked up the tooth. The poison quickly devoured the blood but left the cloth untouched. Amonsovn smiled. Quickly her hand darted down into the waves below her in the slowly sinking boat. There was another, long, wailing, shriek and the waters filled with green and purple-black blood. The creature thrashed and writhed. The little craft bucked and in the tumult Amonsovn brought it as close to the shore as she could and leapt.

Amonsovn staggered to her feet. She was tiered and had no idea when she had last slept. The hulking creature on the island was before her and the waters behind her were frothing violently. She still held the fang. She lobbed it at the creature. There was a loud explosion. Amonsovn blacked out.

This was the second day Amonsovn had been in the forest. Aphei hoped she was doing alright. She had been down to tend the Brute yesterday and had numerous cuts and bites for her troubles. The Brute respected Ara, nobody else. She went down to the stables at the back of the military area, it was early in the morning and she was tiered, she would just get the Brute out in the field, deal with his stable and get out of there. She walked around the corner and froze. Leaning nonchalantly against the Brutes stable door was Fiscaan Bandrrok. Aphei yelled out a warning just in time so the Brutes teeth closed with a snap around empty air.

Fiscaan eyed the Brute then turned to Aphei with a rueful smile of thanks. His eyes widened taking her in. She suddenly felt very self-conscious, she was wearing old, dirty trousers and a casual shirt that did not cover enough right then for her self comfort.

"'xc's' me." She mumbled pushing past him. Yes, she was supposed to be flirting with him but she could not bring herself to do it yet. She would wait until Amonsovn had come out of the forest, if she was going to that is. Throwing the rope head collar around the Brutes nose and ears she hid behind the chestnuts gnashing teeth and brought him out to the fields with the minimum bruises. She dashed back into the safety of the stable. Fiscaan was watching her curiously.

'_Sht' _She thought. She had left the muck fork leaning against the stable wall. Fiscaan passed it to her. Blushing, Aphei took it with a mumbled thanks and then threw herself into the work. She could not get a servant to do this as the Brute was so vicious and anyway, it was Ara's horse, that seemed significant to her. Fiscaan then had a shot at starting a conversation with her.

"I wouldn't have expected to see you down here." he said. She grunted. "It doesn't seem like the sort of thing a lady would do. But everyone does say you and that warrior girl are quite close. She's a funny one isn't she. You know most of the men I know wouldn't mind getting to know her better." Aphei let him burble on, grunting at him only when he asked a question. Then she stormed off in a cloud of embarrassment to get rid of the muck.

She came back, keeping her head down, refusing to blush again. He grabbed her hand as she was leaving

"Aphei," He said putting a cool hand under her chin, making her tilt her head up and look at him, "Aphei, I'm sorry if I scared you the other day. I'm sorry and," He took a deep breath, "I was hoping you would let me take you out somewhere, tonight maybe, and let me make it up to you." Aphei squirmed. "It'll be alright," He assured her, "I promise."

'_He has very nice eyes' _Aphei found herself thinking. _'What harm can it do? It's what I'm supposed to be doing, isn't it?'_

"Alright" she said. "Where?"

"I was thinking of a little favourite of mine, it's a restaurant called The Night Rose. Is that alright?"

"Yes." Aphei smiled, "That would be fine."

Someone was sponging her brow. Amonsovn opened her eyes. There were two dark hazel eyes about an inch from her face framed with light hair. They leapt back in surprise. It was one of the other novices taking his test at the same time as hers. She looked about. She was in a tiny clearing of the forest with a small fire in the middle taking up most of the space with a pot cooking over it. She was lying on her back under her single blanket. It did not look like she had been out for that long, her cloths were still covered in blood, hers and the lake things.

She sat up. The other novice was watching her. He was quite tall, only a little shorter than her, and was quite muscular as befitted his chosen weapon, a battle axe. It was an impressive thing with large double blades well made but with little decoration besides a funny amber stone and a few markings she could not see. She knew where she was. They were quite near the little stream she had found.

"Do you mind if I go and bathe?" She asked. The novice shrugged,

"You can if you want to." He answered. Amonsovn rose stiffly. "I'm Kietaan." He added as an after thought.

"Amonsovn." She said without thinking and walked off, grabbing the few things she had with her, the novice must have found her stuff as they were not far from where she had been. She found the brook and walked down stream a little way. It broadened into a small pool before a large pile up of old fallen branches created a miniature water fall. She slid in to the sun warmed water. From the sun it looked about mid afternoon.

'_Only one more day' _She thought. _'One more day and I'm a green belt.' _She freed most of the blood from the cloths although the lake creature's blood was reluctant to come out and there were faint stains still visible when she had finished. It felt good to be clean after all the blood she had had on her. Her leg was covered by a deep scar. She had no idea why but it looked like it had happened years ago. She also had a lot of minor cuts but that was normal and nothing was serious. She also gave Sagiaturiaris a good clean although the battered sheath and straps had gained more stains.

She spent most of the afternoon in the pool. She was very tiered and may have even slept at one point. She was thankful that it was over. Survival in the forest was second nature to her so the next day would be fine. She would be found the next day in the evening, they probably kept tabs on all the people with the blues, and it would all be over. It was traditional for them to go out partying all night with their very first payment and spend most of it straight away, she could not be bothered to do anything about that. She thought about the test. No one ever spoke of it. The black elites test was only whispered about and no one ever said what they thought actually happened. There was all sorts of talk, men's bodies never being found, terrible nightmares and such like coming to haunt you even after you passed the test, some even said they were more than simple nightmares. Amonsovn really did not care at that point in time. She was just glad she had passed the test.

AN. Nthin mre is happnin 2 amonsovn in the forst now, zats it! Finly I've finshed it! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY! Now **_PLEZ_** review. I'm **_begging_** u!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter13

AN. Right, I have vertualy no time 4 typin right now cos have 2 many things 2 count 2 do, I typed this chptr ages ago so I thought I might as well put it up but all thos kind people who r reading my rubbish strys im really sorry, Im also workin on zis weird stry thing 4 fictionpress an probably still will been in several years time but have just had revolutionary idea 4 is and, well. Am goin bananas basicly so sorry, updates will defiantly be slow, sorry.

Amonsovn walked back to the camp late as the sun was setting. Kietaan had two rabbits cooking over his little fire. Amonsovn had refilled the water skins they had and returned Kietaans to him. When the rabbits were done Kietaan passed her one.

"Thanks." Amonsovn said as they began to eat.

"It came from one of your snares Amonsovn." He answered.

"Oh, well thanks anyway." They ate in silence again. Amonsovn was just sitting like that for a while. She had noticed something.

"Kietaan," She asked with a curious frown. He glanced up at her sharply.

"How is it you can pronounce my name?" He asked suspiciously.

"How is it you can say mine?" She asked in return. "Everyone else calls me Ara as they can't pronounce Amonsovn."

"Everyone calls me Ky, they can't even pronounce Kie properly." They stared at each other in silence. For the first time Amonsovn took in the meaning of Kietaan's name and pale features, thought tanned. His blond-brown hair was very uncommon and the grey eyes even more so. He was also very nearly as tall as her.

"Where are you from?" Amonsovn asked. Kietaan's face became shrouded, Amonsovn could not tell how many emotions were flickering across his face.

"My mother came from along way away," Kietaan began. "Across the ocean she said. She was captured from her home land and taken as a slave when she was very little. Her whole family was split up. She said the worst part was the crossing in the ship."

"Kietaan I'm sorry I didn't know it was a tender subject for you…" Amonsovn tried to apologize but Kietaan shook his head.

"No, it's alright. She told me many things. People used to say I looked just like her. I don't know who my father is, the memories seemed too painful for my mother, Veyiena. She never told me what really happened but she gave me the idea that I would not want to meet him. I was born a slave. We were slaves to some one in Crete for a very long time though I never once saw him. A few years ago we were captured by a raiding party of Athenians and liberated.

"They said to us 'my enemies enemy should be my friend not another enemy to fight.' My mother died very soon after we came here but she died free and happy and I enlisted in the army that saved us. Mother used to tell me allsorts of things of her home land. She seemed particularly interested in the scar I got around my neck from the slave collars. She used to run her fingers around it and say that I was special to my people. What ever that means. It was odd. When she knew she was dying she said to me, 'Kietaan my son, remember this.' And she then told me to watch for the suns daughter with the Goddesses blade for she too was important to our people." Kietaan seemed to be staring into the distance as if recalling things long past, the emotions on his face still battling for positions. "She died that night after telling me that."

"Kietaan," Amonsovn said. "I too come from across the oceans." She sighed at the painful memories of long lost happiness. She did not realise it but her face too now showed the fighting's of opposing emotions. She then began to tell him of the island. The beautiful island that had been her home, the miles of forest that she and Kataalac had explored together as sisters at heart, then the coming of the strangers and the terrible pain, fear and guilt she now suffered and the search for vengeance.

"… We have both suffered very similar fates, Kietaan, and though I never bore the slaves collar I have the deaths of my people weighing heavy on my shoulders like a collar of iron." She sighed. "The key to which lies in vengeance of their deaths with death." Kietaan had a very peculiar expression by the time she had finished.

"We'd better get some sleep." He answered her finally.

"Good idea." Amonsovn said dampening down the fire. She went to sleep with a lot of things to think on that night, including something very puzzling she needed to talk to Kietaan about.

Aphei dressed in a dark red and black dress of varying shades with her dark hair hanging around her bare shoulders in the warm summer air. The sun had not yet set but it was quite late when the knock came. She left her balcony that she had been standing on, closed the doors to it, and wended her way to the main door to her chambers to open it. Fiscaan was standing there. He flashed her a smile, white against his dark skin.

"Are you ready my lady?" He asked her languidly. She smiled back.

"Of course, why would I not be?" She answered playfully. He offered his hand to her and she accepted gracefully.

"The evening air is fresh and warm and it is not far so we will walk." He announced.

They walked together down the quiet yet busy streets as the sun set in gentle waves of peach and amber. The Night Rose was a restaurant for the wealthy, each table was secluded and the food was exquisite. Aphei had never actually been there before but the colours blended well with her dress. A pitch black rose on a deep red background was the places symbol.

Aphei and Fiscaan were seated across from each other in a private corner of the building with a wonderful view of the finale of the sun set. When they had finished they just sat there for awhile enjoying the peace of the moment. Fiscaan studied the woman across from him. She was of moderate height and only came up to his chin and was well endowed with feminine curves. Her glossy black hair tumbled onto fine shoulders and around a perfect oval face with dark eyes and delicate full lips. No wonder people said she had wormed her way into the kings affections to get as high as she had, but Fiscaan did not think she was like that. The king anyway was becoming smitten with the foreign newcomer to court, Medea he thought her name was.

Aphei was enjoying the sun set and looking forward to that time the next day when Amonsovn would come out of the forest, if she was going to, when Fiscaan spoke her name softly.

"Aphei," He said quietly, "There's some thing I have for you." He took out a long, thin, black box. He passed it to her. Carefully Aphei opened it. It held a necklace. A single, tiny, perfect, white rose head hung from the delicate gold chain. Gently Fiscaan took it from the box, undid the clasp and tenderly hung it around her neck.

"It's beautiful." Breathed Aphei touching it reverently with her slender fingers. "Thank you Fiscaan." She said taking his hand as it slipped from her shoulder.

They left the restaurant soon after and went for a long walk around the paved streets. Sometime after midnight Fiscaan returned her to her apartments. She kissed him lightly on the cheek to say good night and then tumbled into bed with much to think on.

Aphei slept late and was not woken until her maid decided she had had more than enough sleep and opened the curtains to let in a stream of bright morning sunlight. Aphei groaned and rolled over putting her head under her pillow.

"Miss." Came the annoyed reply to her movements. Her head emerged again, squinting. The maid tapped her foot irritably. Aphei dived under the covers again. There was a sudden cold draft around her legs as the maid whisked the covers off. She tried to fit under the pillow.

"Alright, alright!" Aphei said desperately as Usilla her maid started tickling her feet. "I'm up!" Aphei sat up and shook her hair out. Tutting, Usilla was prowling around the room picking things up and putting them away. Aphei watched glumly, she would never find anything once Usilla had tidied it away.

"Aphei," She scolded, "you left that dress on the floor last night." She said brandishing the evidence in front of Aphei's barely open eyes. "Look at it now! I'm taking it straight to the cleaners." She added it to the growing stack in the middle of the floor. Aphei padded over to her closet and grabbed a shirt and trousers at random. Usilla snatched the shirt out of her hands and plonked that on the washing pile as well.

'_Apparently not.' _thought Aphei raising an eyebrow. She returned to the closet and grabbed something else and dodging the cleaning whirl wind of disgruntled maid she made it to her dressing room. While dressing she listened to the running commentary from Usilla. Nothing got past Usilla.

Apparently there was some foreigner woman called Medea who had the whole court abuzz and Ageus seemed to really like her. Usilla said she ought to beware of that one, she had the king wrapped round her little finger apparently. Usilla rattled on for a while and then there was a knock at the door. Usilla bustled off to answer it still talking. The nosy of her constant prattling stopped and Aphei heard voices. Usilla burst into her dressing room in a fluster.

"Oh hurry up and get dressed miss." Usilla twittered excitedly. "Guess who's come to see you!" Aphei raised an eye brow at her, she was not guessing this soon after getting up.

"Fiscaan Bandrrok."

The message slowly made its way through the labyrinth of Aphei's still sleep fuddled brain. She finished dressing and wandered through her bedroom and bathroom to the front room by the door. There was someone standing on the balcony with his back to her. She stared at him with a confused look. The message finally found a working part of her brain. Fiscaan had gone through to the balcony. She went to join him.

"Good morning flower." Fiscaan greeted her with his smile.

"Good morning." She answered with a nod leaning against the rail next to him.

"I see you are still wearing my gift." He said touching the rose resting gently at her throat. His hand trailed up her neck to her cheek. She kissed his fingers then quickly took it back to the rail. He held onto her hand gently on the rail.

"Ara is coming out of the forest today." Aphei said.

"The warrior girl?" Fiscaan asked. Aphei nodded. "Ara does not sound very foreign to me." He said sceptically.

"Oh it's not her real name. It sounds a bit like her real name but no one can pronounce it." She laughed slightly. Fiscaan frowned.

"A bit like that lad I knew, Ky. He had a funny name too. He was foreign. Pale hair and grey eyes, very odd fellow. I wonder what happened to him."

"Ky?" Aphei asked starting to frown to. "There was a boy taking the test at the same time as Ara called that. Ky." She mused. "I bet it's the same one."

Brousk stormed across the grounds. He had just heard something he did not liked. Everyone was turning and hurrying off in the opposite direction when they saw him coming in such a temper that most would not have been surprised if lightning had come down and struck something. He stalked into the black elites building. Raising a giant ham fist he pounded on Pirrishane, the black elite gold belt's door. It shuddered violently and the hinges creaked.

"No need to blow the door down!" Came the exclaimed reply. "When I last looked door knobs had been invented!" There was a pause and a thin, sinuous and grumbling person in black with a gold belt around his middle gingerly opened the door hoping it would not change its mind and crash on top of him. "Might as well come in through the wall the way you were going on."

"_You put Ara through the **CAVERN!"**_ Brousk bellowed into his face.

"Calm down!" Pirrishane exclaimed. "I had my reasons."

"_YOU HAD YOUR **REASONS!" **_Said Brousk getting louder.

"Oh please don't lay the whole building flat, people will be wondering if an elephant stomped in here!" Pirrishane clapped him on the shoulder. "Look, maybe I just wanted to be sure she was up to the job and maybe I was a little biased against her but the thing is she passed and that's alright."

"**_ALRIGHT!_** I'LL GIVE YOU **_ALRIGHT!_** YOU CAN TAKE **_ALRIGHT_** AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR…!"

"Brousk!" Pirrishane interrupted quickly. "Look, just calm down for a minute." Brousk lowered the fist he had been waving about and some of the red drained from his face as he struggled to keep a leash on his anger, the problem was the leash kept breaking when ever someone spoke to him.

"Pir, do you realise that you made Ara undergo the test for a gold belt!" Brousk said disbelievingly.

"Just the forest part, how did you find out anyway?" Pirrishane asked.

"Gishkain the stealth gold belt sent one of his boys to me, he sounded quite worried." Brousk said threateningly.

"Oh."

AN. Review? Plez? It would be v nice cos im so used 2 my email thing sayin I have 0 new emails.


End file.
